I sit with my co-founder Nick Madrid to discuss what we've learned in the last year of building this Podcast and Newsletter.

About Nick Madrid - Co-founder, The Free Toaster. Former Bloomberg (10 years) and Chime (3+ years). Now building media properties including The Free Toaster and the Uncovered Media brand.

• 1,200+ email subscribers (zero paid marketing), adding about 100 subs per month
• 13,000+ active users, 30,000+ views on www.thefreetoaster.com
• 118 posts published in 14 months

• Biggest lesson: Consistency matters more than predicting viral content
• What's working: Writing online attracts opportunities
• 2026 plans: Building curated events for consumer lending, launching small business lending newsletter
• Events vision: Intimate, niche gatherings (dinners, golf, coffee, even bounce houses for parents) - in addition to larger scale conference

Contact Us If: - Operators: you want to help us plan/execute an event

- Sponsors: you want to sponsor an event - Consumer lenders: you want to hear about our events/attend

Email us at: carlos@newmarketgrowth.com

*****

A word from our sponsor, Spinwheel:

Reduce friction in your lending application with just two fields—phone number and birthdate. Spinwheel’s APIs boost application rates by 20-30% while also providing real-time credit data and seamless payment processing. Want to see it in action? Connect with their Head of Growth for a demo!

https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=dec

Drive thousands of new accounts and billions in deposits with the only partner marketing solution built for fintech and banking – your all-in-one affiliate platform, partner network, agency, and marketing compliance engine.

https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast

A word from our sponsor, New Market Growth:

New Market Growth helps fintech consumer lenders generate explosive growth on affiliate marketing channels like Credit Karma, Experian Marketplace, LendingTree, and others. Affiliate marketing involves marketing & credit risk expertise, and NMG's founders bring this with 21+ years of lending experience and 8+ years experience as executive affiliate operators. If you'd like help planning or implementing your affiliate marketing strategy, email us at carlos@newmarketgrowth.com

Subscribe to the Free Toaster Newsletter: www.thefreetoaster.com/

I recently sat with Alex Johnson on the Fintech Takes Podcast. I hope you enjoy! ***** (Show notes below from Fintech Takes)

Welcome back to the Fintech Takes podcast. I’m Alex Johnson, joined by Carlos Caro (author of the Free Toaster newsletter and host of the Free Toaster podcast) for the second episode of Facing Credit, where we unpack what’s really happening in lending right now.

This one’s about marketing; the overlooked starting point of every loan.

Everything in lending sits downstream of how you acquire customers and what it costs to reach them. And right now, that system is in flux.

AI has upended the old rules of digital acquisition. Google’s “Helpful Content” update triggered what Carlos describes in his writing as the “SEO Apocalypse”, a collapse that’s wiping out 50–90% of organic traffic and forcing publishers, affiliates, and lenders to rewrite their playbooks. The rise of AI-generated search results and zero-click answers means the economics of attention have changed for good.

Carlos and I dig into:

• How AI is breaking traditional digital marketing and reshaping lender acquisition costs

• What Google’s updates mean for SEO, SEM, and the affiliate ecosystem

• How creators like My Rich BFF and MrBeast are becoming the new distribution channels for lenders

• And what “Generative Engine Optimization” (GEO) might mean for the next phase of search

Tune in for Carlos’s take on how lenders, publishers, and fintechs can survive the SEO extinction event (and what it’ll take to win attention in the AI age).

Plus, we reference these three Free Toaster pieces throughout the conversation; consider them required reading:

The SEO Apocalypse Has Arrived

How New Balance's CMO Turned Around A 15-Year Decline

Reddit Isn't an Affiliate Channel

This episode was brought to you by Marqeta. Don’t sacrifice agility for stability. With Marqeta, launch payments experiences that perform at scale and flex with your business. Learn more at https://marqeta.com/ftt

Sign up for Alex’s Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/

And for more exclusive insider content, don’t forget to check out my YouTube page.

Follow Carlos Caro:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-carlos-caro/

Follow Alex Johnson:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson

X: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson

I was recently a guest on another Podcast, and the host asked me a question about what will happen to publishers' organic traffic that disappeared with the recent Google / SEO changes.

That question led me into a bit of a tangent / rabbit hole (I'll republish that episode here when it goes live in December), and I share some of my updated thoughts after having an evening to reflect on the question.

PS: If you want to sponsor our Podcast in 2026, now's the time to get in touch. Email me at carlos@newmarketgrowth.com

*****

A word from our sponsor, Spinwheel:

Reduce friction in your lending application with just two fields—phone number and birthdate. Spinwheel’s APIs boost application rates by 20-30% while also providing real-time credit data and seamless payment processing. Want to see it in action? Connect with their Head of Growth for a demo!

https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=oct

Drive thousands of new accounts and billions in deposits with the only partner marketing solution built for fintech and banking – your all-in-one affiliate platform, partner network, agency, and marketing compliance engine.

https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast

A word from our sponsor, New Market Growth:

New Market Growth helps fintech consumer lenders generate explosive growth on affiliate marketing channels like Credit Karma, Experian Marketplace, LendingTree, and others. Affiliate marketing involves marketing & credit risk expertise, and NMG's founders bring this with 21+ years of lending experience and 8+ years experience as executive affiliate operators. If you'd like help planning or implementing your affiliate marketing strategy, email us at carlos@newmarketgrowth.com

Subscribe to the Free Toaster Newsletter: www.thefreetoaster.com/