Book Guest Spots On Other Podcasts: Are You Making These Mistakes?

With so many people focusing on New and Noteworthy, I wanted to see how many people use New and Noteworthy. So I asked people how they found new podcasts and here is what they said.

The number one way was hearing the podcaster being interviewed on another podcast. This data is from 100 respondents from my email list, and from social media. So it order with the number one answer first it was

I heard them interviewed on another podcast

I searched the app for my topic

I heard about it from a friend (word of mouth)

Other

The Internet (Google, Bing) Search

The "other" responses were (and I'm summarizing) more or less "Word of mouth." Meaning the podcast host they were listening to mentioned them, or they heard about it on Twitter, Pinterest, etc.

So if one of the top ways to grow your audience is to appear on other podcasts, how do you get booked on other shows? Well, we are going to dig into a smart way of setting yourself up to be booked on other podcasts.

How To Get Booked as A Guest On a Podcast?

OK, there must be some new course, or guru telling people how to contact people to be potential guests. Here is the format

1. Tell people how much you love the show
2. Tell them your story
3. Tell them what topic you can talk about and how much my audience is going to benefit.
4. Kiss the butt of the host and tell them what an honor it would be on the show.
5. Drop a hint about the book or course you have, and how my audience would benefit.
6. Promise to promote.

They are missing one key ingredient

GO AND LISTEN TO THE SHOW

When you start off the email with “I have heard some fantastic things about your radio show, congratulations on your success!”

Again, do some homework, or better yet, go by the book Stop Chasing Influencers: The True Path To Building Your Business and Living Your Dream

Strategies For Securing a Guest Spot on Other Podcasts

Search for your topic in iTunes, Google, etc. the idea is to see who is in the space. Who is the leader in your space? Search for their name in iTunes and see what podcasts they have appeared.  You could search for New and Noteworthy as these people are probably more New than Noteworthy (and hungry for guests) Realize your interview will be evergreen. So if someone goes back to get the back catalog, you will be included.

Find influencers in your niche: Look for books on your topic in Amazon, and in Amazon there is a "Customers also bought these items" area. You should probably see other authors names who are also involved with your topic.

Make a list and check it twice

When you find a podcast, look and see the date of their last episode. If they have podfaded, you might consider contacting them to see if you could take over the show. In general, people who haven't put out a show in months, are more than likely not coming back.

Start a spreadsheet with the following information

• Website Address
• Twitter Handle
• e-mail address

The average Twitter followers per user is 208. According to an article on Sumome you can look at Twitter followers using the following scale:

• H = Huge = 100k+ Followers
• L = Large = 10K+ Followers
• M = Medium = 1k+ Followers
• S = Getting Started = less than 1k followers

Add these people to your list and make how you found them (they will want to know). Obviously, put if they have a podcast or not. If they don't, you may still want to develop a relationship with them so they can appear on YOUR podcast.

Getting Ready For the Initial Contact

So to determine if you are a good fit for their show, you need to listen to it. There is no way around this if you want to do it right.  Does this podcast focus on people who would enjoy your topic? If yes, then we need to get ready to contact them. If not, then we won't focus on them now.

Don't Try to Close the Deal

Instead of sending an email, and asking to come on the show. Why not follow them on Twitter and retweet one of their tweets? Why not leave a comment on the blog. The beginning of every relationship begins with a conversation. This way when you do contact them, you won't be quite the stranger.

Honesty is Refreshing

See if you can get an introduction. See who is following this person on twitter or LinkedIn and see if you can get an introduction.

Instead of telling me great my show is, why not be honest? Tell me you just discovered the show, and tell me why - specifically - in a way that proves you listened - you would be a good fit for my show. Realize the podcaster is going to have to figure out if you're going to bring value, and if you're a good fit. If you've done your homework, you can answer that question for them (and save them time).

You could send an email with something along the lines of "Hey (name), I just got done listening to (episode name) and I have to tell you (specific item that proves you listened) I wanted to let you know as someone who has been involved with (the topic of the podcast) I'm really enjoying the show. "

If you want them to take a look at you, write about their episode on your blog and link to it. Then send them a link to the post. Now you're not just a listener, you're a content creator, and I'm pretty sure they are going to click the "ABOUT" button when they visit.

Think of this as "Courting" your potential future interview.

Why Should I Take This Much Effort For One Interview?

You can “Spray and Pray” that someone will respond. Spend time talking to people who (apparently) will have anybody on their show. Waste their audience time, and your time as well. The good news it didn’t take any effort to pull this off. The bad news is it isn’t very effective. You’re busy, but not productive. There is a difference. Don’t confuse the two.

The other way of doing this is to find a show with the topics you want to talk about, and listen to them and see if you might be a good fit. If you think there is, then leave a comment on the post you listened to and bring value. See if the host replies (you want a host who is connected with his/her audience). Then later, after you listen to a second episode you might consider sending them another email. Talk about some details to prove you listened and bring some value to the conversation. Maybe you have details that they didn’t share in the episode. Maybe you have a resource that could be of value. Bring something to the table that will benefit the host. When the host benefits, you benefit. Why? Because as a podcast host, we serve our audience. We want our audience to benefit. When you deliver value, the host will want you to do the same thing with their audience.

Why don’t people do this? Because contacting people on a personal basis takes TIME. Time is something most of us don’t have. Why don’t we have more time? Because we’re BUSY talking to people that aren’t a good fit. Because we’re drafting the perfect form letter to blast to hundreds of potential podcasters.

Stand Out in the Crowd

If you want to stand out and have people BEGGING YOU to come on the show, do your homework. Write an email that shows you took the time to listen, and you’ve already done the work for the host. They don’t have to figure out if you’re a good guest for the show; you’ve already done it for them. You will STAND OUT.

It’s Not Spray and Pray.

It’s all about Relationships.

Relationships take time. If you’re too “busy”, stop using Spray and Pray, and start working smarter. Start standing out from the crowd by doing your homework and find podcasts that fit your topic, and success will come your way.

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