Ready Entrepreneur

Education, Going Global, Knowledge Capital, SUCCESS, Tips for Aspiring Entrepreneurs, Tips for doing business overseas, Tips for New Entrepreneurs, Tips for Wantrepreneurs

In the summer of 2020, global travel is largely off limits for most people, but there are other ways to travel around the world.

The global pandemic situation has prompted many people to begin considering the need to create an additional stream of income through an online business. But how many people live in a country that fully supports their intentions.

Researchers use different measures to determine an answer to this question. Studies ask: who is entrepreneurial or who isn’t…and what about whole countries?

Can the entrepreneurial receipt-ability of entire people be determined? And if yes, what would be the factors? Why would some people be considered more entrepreneurial than others?

And if you are or are not in one of these countries, what does it say about your chances for starting a business?

If you’ve read my book Life Dream, you know I’ve observed entrepreneurial behavior all over the world that supports my belief that the entrepreneurial strain runs through our human DNA. So when smart people come up with their fancy lists defining who is and is not entrepreneurial, I wonder where are the world’s most entrepreneurial countries and why were they selected for the title?

Defining World’s Most Entrepreneurial

When you look at a shanty town or slum, an informal residential area of poor people who are living perhaps in wood or mud huts or cardboard boxes, you might think…these are poor people and there’s not much going on…

…But when you look closely, you might see an incredible depth of activity that can only be described as entrepreneurial.

So what really are the world’s most entrepreneurial countries?

A quick check online reveals there are many lists ranking the world’s most entrepreneurial countries along defined terms. In this article, I’m going to review two that stood out because they reach two different conclusions. Their conflicting results speak volumes about who are the entrepreneurs in the world.

One list comes from the Global Entrepreneurship Index from the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute (GEDI) in Washington, DC.

The index uses 14 pillars to rank entrepreneurship, based on concepts like attitude, ability, transportation infrastructure, broadband and similar factors.

At a glance, the list appears…unimaginative. The emphasis, and credit, for entrepreneurship appears to be awarded to the dollar value created by companies in advanced economies, not the more global entrepreneurship definition of delivering value to solve a problem.

The other list comes from Latona’s analysis of the report from Global Entrepreneur Monitor (GEM). And not only did they create a different list of top countries, but also the factors used to determine entrepreneurial tendencies might not even be considered relevant by typical entrepreneurs.

The Entrepreneurial Factors

The GEM list has six fascinating questions. Consider how an aspiring entrepreneur in your culture might respond to these prompts.

GEM asked 18 – 64 year olds whether ‘fear of failure’ would prevent them from starting a business. The assumption, I assume, is that a population that answers ‘yes,’ they are too afraid of failure to start a business, would have a hard time encouraging aspiring entrepreneurs.

But would not a true aspiring entrepreneur, by definition, answer ‘no’ to that question because the true entrepreneur overcomes fears and starts a business with confidence. In other words, the question might be ‘yes’ for the typical population, but ‘no’ for anyone who would ever consider becoming an entrepreneur.

The next question was about entrepreneurial intentions – who was planning to start a business within 3 years.

One result which stood out was Switzerland. The wealthy country ranked #2 on the GEDI list of world’s most entrepreneurial. But in the GEM survey just 7% of Swiss answered ‘yes’ to entrepreneurial intentions questions. The country scored .87 (less than 1 point) out of 10 on this question.

This result reflects the concern raised at the beginning of this article. A wealthy industrial country may not be entrepreneurial on measures that count for the future, like the ability to nurture sustained entrepreneurship.

As always with numbers, be wary of statistics, surveys and lists.

Weighing Innovation

The GEM list also weighted the questions, further indicating the factors they considered important to an entrepreneurial culture.

One question alone, on innovation, represented 40% of the country’s entrepreneurial value, the heaviest weight awarded in the overall score.

But the wording of the question uniquely defined innovation as the percentage of those involved in total early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA) who indicate that their product or service is new to at least some customers AND that few/no businesses offer the same product.

That is an extraordinary measure to quantify. How many people can really answer ‘yes’ to that question? If an entrepreneur introduces a product or service adaptation with features that do not exist elsewhere, and puts their own unique perspective, and singular approach into the creation of the product or service, does it count as new or old?

Where is ‘same’ product defined? At the macro level, almost everything can fit somewhere. If you start creating t-shirts with cool sayings on them, the product is a t-shirt which is not new, but your cool sayings are your differentiator. And it is that difference that makes for your success as an entrepreneur.

However, it appears that the weight of the ‘yes’ answer to that question helped define the overall list. The three countries with the highest percentage of ‘yes’ where Chile, India and Luxembourg – who ranked 1, 2 and 5 on the overall list.

If innovation, being first and new, is considered the hallmark of entrepreneurship, then those who demonstrate that intention come out ahead.

The Important but Unavailable Factors

Another question was around the availability of financing, and the last one was on the inclusion of entrepreneurship in basic school education. Those are two factors that the most famous entrepreneurs’ stories do not really cultivate. Most countries do not include entrepreneurship in their basic education, and many successful entrepreneurs boot-strapped their way to initial success.

The rating for those two questions were not yes-no but an index number.

The ‘What Will People Say Question’

Another index question, which was left out of the final score was: The extent to which social and cultural norms encourage or allow actions leading to new business methods or activities that can potentially increase personal wealth and income.

Amazingly that loaded question could in fact be the basis for the entire answer on any country’s score. The question should carry weight in many cultures.

Many successful entrepreneurs talk about how they were discouraged from pursuing their business ideas, and made to feel that they were doing something wrong. But their perseverance, and desire, to step away from the status quo, and pursue their own vision, ultimately led them to defy their culture and take the next step.

Since the story of getting past the backlash is one of the most common entrepreneurial stories, one that transcends cultures and locations, it could be argued that experience is the only qualifier for entrepreneurship, anywhere in the world.

The World’s Most Entrepreneurial Countries?

Given the factors used to create the GEM list and GEDI list, only three countries appeared on both: Canada, Ireland and the United States. If you live in one of those three countries, you might be feeling a little more relaxed about your entrepreneurial chances across a variety of measures.

In fact, Ireland ranks in the same place, at #8 on both lists!

The rest of the GEDI list is all economically advanced countries, and the rest of the GEM list is 5 out of 7 developing countries.

So what does it all mean?

Entrepreneurs exist everywhere in the world. And the factors that make an entrepreneur vary across every possible variable. Except the one common reality…

…If you have business ideas in your head, and you are ready and willing to do the work to create a product or service that delivers value. Then you’re an entrepreneur.

The GEDI list is:

1. United States

2. Switzerland

3. Canada

4. United Kingdom

5. Australia

6. Denmark

7. Iceland

8. Ireland

9. Sweden

10. France

The GEM list

1. Chile

2. India

3. Guatemala

4. Canada

5. Luxembourg

6. Angola

7. United States

8. Ireland

9. Turkey

10. Austria

Summary

Reviewing just two of the many lists that attempt to define entrepreneurial tendencies in national populations, you would have to concede – it depends on who you ask and how you ask…

You can count the availability of roads and high-speed internet or
You can count the variety of new ideas or public school courses
But in total what counts is the ability to create new businesses and add value to the economy
Countries that do that are the true entrepreneurial champions.

Free Copy of the Recast 30 Day Actions Plan

To download your free copy of the Recast 30 Day Actions Plan

CLICK THIS LINK

Get Your Copy of Recast

Download your own copy of Recast: The Aspiring Entrepreneur’s Practical Guide to Getting Started with an Online Business

Click to Download at Amazon.com

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Posted on September 11, 2020 by Case Lane

aspiring entrepreneur, business education, entrepreneur skills, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, global entrepreneurship policy, prepare to be an entrepreneur, start a business, start up strategy, tips for getting started

The Recast 30 Day Actions Plan

A couple of weeks ago I was thrilled to release my new book Recast: The Aspiring Entrepreneur’s Practical Guide to Getting Started with an Online Business – a long title for a short point.

I wanted to lay out in a clear form the first ten actions to take when you are getting started with an online business. Most gurus over look this part because they are teaching their guru ways.

But many aspiring entrepreneurs get stuck right at the beginning because they did not take the time to work out a few logistical details before getting started.

Recasting is about playing a new role in your own life – so you have to lay some ground work to make it happen. If you’ve picked up a copy of the book, thank you, and you may have noticed a link to download a 30-day Actions plan.

There are some instructions that come with the download, but the most common question seems to be: What do I do with it?

If you do not have a copy of the Recast 30-day actions plan, click any of the links in this blog, or at the end. This article explains how to use the document to your advantage when you are first starting out.

The 30-Day Actions Plan is a document Word or PDF where you check off your activities related to getting the first 10 actions done when starting out with your online business.

The Foundational Actions

The first 5 actions are foundational – and for some people – may only take an afternoon.

You take a deep breath – making sure you are mentally and physically ready to start working on your business; then find a comfortable place to work that can remain your place to work; gather the tools and resources you need around you; remove all distractions; and create your schedule.

Now for some people – especially those who do not have a place to work – this part may take a week.

In the Actions Plan document, each action is given 3 days. In the left column, I list the questions you want to ask yourself, or the actual activities you can do to complete the action. I don’t list every possibility because then the document would go on for 30 pages instead of 6 or 7, but I list the highlights.

On the right column, the lines are blank. Use those lines to make notes to yourself, or just check off that you’ve done the expected activity.

For the first 5 foundational actions, you have to go through the process in any format that works for you.

The Creative Actions

The second 5 actions are creative – and this is where things can become more complicated.

Actions 6 through 10 are to develop your business idea; research; connect with others; create your action plan; and do the first activity on your list.

Your Business Idea

Let’s start with the business idea.

If you do not have an idea, you may have to spend some time working through your interests and passions until you decide what you would like to do.

If you have a business idea, but have no idea how you want to bring it to the world, you have to work on the platform and approach you want to use.

Depending on where you are in your thought process, the creative actions can take a long time, and involve a lot more steps.

Fill In the Blanks

On the Recast Action plan, you’re only going to find 5 blank lines per column.

But you can download the Google docs version, edit, and add as many lines as you want. The Google Doc version is open for your customization. The layout may not be pretty, but it’s functional because I wanted you to be able to edit it any way that you wanted.

Take all of your creative actions and work through them at your own pace. The key with the creative actions is not to get bogged down in analysis paralysis.

Only do enough research to get started. Once you have a good list of activities that you can use to set your business up, go ahead and start. You do not need more information.

Action is the Key

Once you have your action plan, you need to start taking action.

Ready Entrepreneur is all about action. The more you do, the better you will feel about your business. You will give yourself the momentum to move forward.

If the Recast 30-Day Actions Plan is not your style, no worries. This explanation for how to use the plan is for information purposes.

You can develop your own plan. The real point is that you have the first 10 actions to get started, and however you want to organize and track them is up to you.

Adapt the information to your preferences. This is how it is in online business. You will find a lot of great information online, but it may not apply to you.

You have to adapt the information to your preferences and set up your plan as you see fit.

Summary

You can find the Recast 30-day Action Plan inside the front and back cover of the book Recast. You can also find the link in certain chapters.

Look at the suggestions in the left column to see where you are or what you have to do
In the right column, check off the things you have done or make notes about what you need to do
You get the PDF version with the download, but there’s a link to get the Google Doc version so you can edit and change it as you see fit
Continue to update your Actions Plan worksheet as you go along, and use it to keep yourself on track with the first 10 actions for getting started with an online business
And then just start, and get your online business in to the world

That’s the 30 day Actions Plan worksheet inside the Recast book for your use and fun.

Free Copy of the Recast 30 Day Actions Plan

To download your free copy of the Recast 30 Day Actions Plan

CLICK THIS LINK

Get Your Copy of Recast

Download your own copy of Recast: The Aspiring Entrepreneur’s Practical Guide to Getting Started with an Online Business

Click to Download at Amazon.com

DISCLOSURE: Links to Amazon.com are affiliate links that earn for eligible purchases, at no additional cost to you.

Posted on August 28, 2020 by Case Lane

Books, Education, Knowledge Capital, Online Business, PREPARATION, Recast, Start a Business, Strategies for Aspiring Entrepreneurs, SUCCESS, Tips for Aspiring Entrepreneurs, Tips for Wantrepreneurs

action plan, business action plan, online business, online entrepreneur, online entrepreneurship, online tools, prepare to be an entrepreneur, prepare to start a business, recastbook, start an online business, taking action

Maximize Your Podcast Listening: Use Interviews to Learn from Virtual Mentors

The Podcast Discoveries Series

Life in the Internet Age is really two lives.

One is online where you now engage with family, friends, colleagues, and strangers through screens providing a heightened literal face-to-face communication confrontation.

When that harrowing ordeal is over, you check your phone for texts, images, emojis and videos conveying accompanying messages – as vital as your grandmother’s health report, to as trivial as a bird on a giraffe’s back – with the same flat, rapid, flash of presentation.

Sliding over to your social feeds, you post a few images about your delicious meal, new shoes, or child’s messy face, and then stare jealously at your friends’ more delicious meal, hipper shoes and cuter child.

With heightened reluctance you switch off the screen to tend to your other life…the real one.

Your physical life is the one of private discussion, gentle cries, confusion, fear and misunderstanding.

And never more so has this mood stood out than now, when you face a world where you have to learn to operate in crisis and disruption.

Sadly you know no one who has ever faced this type of turmoil.

Neither does anyone you know.

The knowledge circle that used to come from experiences of extended family, teachers or community leaders is closed.

Your chance to extract information has disappeared, and perhaps your opportunity to be successful, and have the comfortable life you expect, has gone with them.

Where do you turn?

To the fastest rising information, education and communication platform in the world…podcasts.

The Surprise Behind the Mic

If you thought podcasts were only for big name stars, provocative politics or senseless comedy, you may have missed the extraordinary bucket of information burgeoning from the 99.99% of podcasts that create most of the content.

Across all categories from activists to educators to professionals, non-profits, entrepreneurs and health practionners, podcasters are having the conversations you used to hear in your living room.

The conversations once offered by mentors, community leaders, and instructors in limited circles, and behind closed doors, are now offered to everyone within earshot of a connected device.

If you are a professional seeking to hear detailed information about how to grow your career; or a college student wondering how life in the ‘real world’ really plays out; or a concerned citizen who is uncertain how best to contribute to building a better society; or an aspiring entrepreneur who wants to understand how to really get a business going…there is a podcast conversation waiting for you and your notepad.

But how do you find this treasure trove of knowledge and information in the massive sea of options presented on your smartphone?

You start here.

How to Find Your Relevant Podcasts

This post highlights what you should know about extracting valuable information from podcasts available right now for your listening pleasure.

But instead of passively absorbing the conversation, this post recommends you take the guidance you hear to the next level, and apply the knowledge to your career path, education or entrepreneurial decisions going forward.

The purpose of a podcast interview is to give the listener new insights to absorb and implement. The opportunity for you is to take the advice and run with it.

Present at the Beginning

Podcasting is a fairly new industry with no formal structures or established reference resources. Podcasts are hosted by dozens of platforms, and listed in dozens more directories.

But most directories limit search results to the most ‘relevant.’ This presents the top podcasts with unlimited search result real estate, and all the rest lost behind algorithms designed to ignore them.

A podcast capturing valuable specific interview content for a young professional, rising business owner or college student could be ranked from #101 to #1,000,000, and effectively be ‘undiscoverable.’

But if you are that person who wants that information, the question is: how can find the 99.99%?

And when you do…what should you do with the information?

The Value of Virtual Mentors

Most people do not have the information they need to be successful. The schools do not teach the personal development and self-help ideologies, that tens of millions of adults will go on to purchase in later life.

And the majority will fail to learn that some people are successful not because of demographics or wealth or education, but simply because they get great information they understand early enough to apply it to their life choices.

In a world built on democracy and free enterprise, there’s a belief that people operate on a leveling playing field – that the society by virtue of its success values will encourage anyone to be successful.

But in reality, success often comes to those who have the right information.

Rich Dad Poor Dad and The Information Privilege

In Robert Kiyosaki’s best selling book Rich Dad Poor Dad, he explained this reality. You get the right information by either having a ‘Rich Dad’ who will impart it to you, or by knowing you are missing out, and finding where you can learn what you need.

A ‘Rich Dad’ is any human who pro-actively teaches or demonstrates how to maximize your resources to grow for success; and ‘Poor Dad’ teaches nothing but following the status quo.

The most effective ‘Rich Dads’ provide not only the knowledge, but the life skills to understand how to apply what you have learned for the long-term. ‘Poor Dad’ is rarely economically poor, yet leads a life where decisions are driven by earning a salary to pay monthly bills, and scrimping and saving for retirement.

People who grow up with ‘Poor Dad’ often believe they are doing everything right, and to society, they are, until they hit financial concerns. ‘Poor Dad’ learners are the ones who are shocked by financial crises, rising mortgage rates, equity market swings, and the interest rates on their car loans, student loans and credit card debt.

Following ‘Poor Dad’s’ example means spending on the items you believe you should buy like a house and car, and being worried that you cannot afford those same items whenever there is a crisis.

Even the ‘Poor Dads’ who teach frugality, and end up with a couple million dollars in the bank at retirement, don’t seem to be having a good time. They have never learned how to spend money for enjoyment, and are constantly managing to the last penny in fear of ‘running out.’

For those who are interested in entrepreneurship and starting a business, ‘Poor Dads’ caution and insecurity is discouraging. Entrepreneurial ideas go untested because of fear, and the inability to break habits from the past.

But those same people, maybe even you, know about ‘Rich Dad,’ and maybe are watching, wondering and asking, how do you have a great life now?

Find a Virtual Mentor

If a potential ‘Rich Dad’ is not within your reach, you can find one as a virtual mentor who will give you the guidance and wisdom you need to ensure your life meets your expectations.

Since financial education is not taught in schools, you have to be exposed to ‘Rich Dad’ in some other form.

But if you don’t have a ‘Rich Dad,’ and you know you are missing out on the information you need, and you are ready, willing and able to implement good advice, you can discover these valuable mentors for yourself by absorbing and applying the lessons being taught…in podcasts.

You can make yourself information privileged by finding the podcasts that are having conversations with people who have the knowledge you need.

How to Find Your Podcast

Podcasts grow by word of mouth, which means the most successful podcasts are those that have been recommended. And the interview podcasts tend to be successful for the same reason. Interviewers speak to a finite rotating list of A-name stars who tell the same stories over and over again.

Even on podcasts that purport to offer a different perspective, or unique angle, the same story is being told by the same people.

To break away from these familiar conversations, and find podcasts you can use to advance your life, you have to become more creative in your podcast search.

If those in your circle are not interested in enhancing their lives, they will not be the ones to recommend the podcasts you should be listening to. You will have to find these shows on your own.

Search by Keyword

The podcast description is the main location where podcasters state the nature of their content. But a podcaster can state this information in a variety of different forms.

A keyword you are searching for may not appear in the podcast title or description, yet be valid for the type of content provided. You will have to assess each description as you see fit.

Some podcasters also have episode descriptions that state the episode features, and expert or specialist interview content. But this information varies by podcast.

When using keywords to search for podcasts:

Search for your unique podcasts by using Google or another search engine for [your keyword] podcasts to see a list of possibilities.
Read the descriptions to see if the information sounds valuable to you.
Since your search topic may cover more than one area, try different categories and keywords around broad subjects. For example, entrepreneurs can look for: ‘entrepreneur,’ ‘entrepreneurship,’ ‘business,’ ‘success,’ ‘startup,’ ‘side hustle,’ ‘action,’ ‘boss,’ and all variations of ‘boss lady.’
If you are aware of experts in your field such as professors, researchers, and organizers search [their name] podcast – the person’s name with the word ‘podcast’ written after it – to see if you can find their appearances on different shows. When you find the appearance of someone you admire, you may find others who have appeared on the same podcast, and discussed similar topics.
You can stop when you have at least 100 podcasts to research. Avoid trying to find every possible category, every type of podcast may be lurking in. Once you begin by searching one or two categories the results will lead you on to more.

Social Media

Searching social media hashtags and keywords can also help discover previously unknown podcasts. However, social media generally takes more time, and does not often provide additional information about the show.

Social media may be more valuable AFTER you have listened to an interview, and want to learn more about your virtual mentor.

How to Listen to the Interview

When you discover a podcast with interviews with people whose advice you may wish to add to your ‘Rich Dad’ information library, listen to the conversation as if that person were providing the details directly to you.

If your hands are free, take notes on important points you may want to clarify or research later.

For example, if you want to be an entrepreneur, and listen to entrepreneur interviews on podcasts, you could be considering:

How the entrepreneur got started
Where their opportunities came from
How they made money.

For example, on the Trailblazers Impact podcast, ‘Financial Diva’ Victoria Woods, the CEO of ChappelWoods Financial Services spoke about her rise.

An aspiring entrepreneur listening to this interview may realize:

You have to keep your eyes open for opportunities to make money, like babysitting 6 kids at a time, instead of one

How can you enhance your existing work right now to earn more money?

You maintain your opportunity by being responsible, organized and reliable

Do you need to improve in any of these areas?

You should be productive with your free time, for example take an accounting class or other continuous learning. You may be surprised to discover a subject you love that is also a career opportunity

What subject could you be studying right now to add to your skills?

Accept no limits – use your energy and effort

Are you feeling strong and capable, or do you need to improve your energy and motivation?

Follow the trails of those who have done it before

Who are the successful people around you? Who should you be following online to better understand the road to success?

Stay open for new opportunities

What have people told you lately or what have you seen that could lead to an opportunity for you?

Find the right partner by making sure your goals and lifestyle are aligned

Are you aligned with your partner on your goals? If not, what can you do to fix the situation?

Always ask why a customer decided to work with you, why were they motivated to call you. You can learn from what you’re doing right

If you have a business now, how often do you communicate with customers outside of transactions, and what do you say?

Decide where you are and where you want to be, then fill in the blanks about how you want to get there

Write down your goals and your envisioned future. Document the blanks and what you need to do to fill them.

Don’t take advice from broke people – physically, financially or spiritually

When somebody offers you advice, ask yourself if you would like to have that person’s life, if the answer is ‘no,’ you know what to do with the advice!

If you had this information imparted directly to you over coffee or dinner, what would you do with it?

Use the Knowledge to Build your Life Going Forward

Use the information you hear in podcast interviews to begin building a store of knowledge that can help you design your life to ensure you accomplish your goals, without waiting for circumstances to take you in another direction.

Unlike generations past when good advice was kept among families or scholars, the average person now has the information freely available, and ready for use.

If you are serious about having the life you really want, being proactive about your choices, and making your own success, use quality podcast interviews – beyond the top 100 – to get your share of the information privilege you are unlikely to receive anywhere else.

Let the podcast world provide you with an additional education, grounded in realities that you will not hear about from those around you.

This is an exciting time to be a participant in the new economy, now you can adapt the possibilities to your own ends.

Conclusion

Why should you be listening to podcasts?

For the information, knowledge, entertainment and news.

But why should you try and find the #101 to #1,000,000 ranked podcasts?

Because in the interviews and information of the 99.99% of podcasts lies a layer of wisdom that would otherwise be completely inaccessible to you.

The manor door has been left wide-open, you can slip in, and absorb the next level of higher living that comes not from money, but from information, heard, absorbed and used to repeat success, not let it fall away.

Take advantage of this moment while you can, by taking a step beyond the obvious, and making your podcast listening count for more.

More Information

The best part about researching 1,117 podcasts was being accepted as a guest on so many awesome shows! You can find links to all of those fabulous podcasts here.

The second best part was my new found insight into the podcast industry.

This research was so eye-opening that this post is one of five about what I learned about the podcast industry from researching 1,117 podcasts.

Here are the links to all of the posts in the Podcast Discoveries Series:

How to be a Welcoming Podcast Interview Host: The Best and Worst Practices

How to be a Valued Podcast Interview Guest: The Best and Worst Practices

Maximize Your Podcast Listening: Use Interviews to learn from Virtual Mentors

Additional Resources

Research Checklist: Podcast Guests: If you would like a free checklist for how to research and find the right podcast for you. Click here to download.

Podcast Directories: If you would like to get your own copy of the podcast directory listing and instructions based on my research click here (coming soon)

Podcast Guest Interview Blueprint Package (the ultimate course for podcast guests): Podcast Guests: If you would like the comprehensive guide to finding and contacting podcasts that are right for you, including as bonuses the Interview Checklist and the Directories List. Click here for this special offer.

Podcast Discoveries Book: Readers: If you would like the entire story of this epic research journey to discover and contact podcasts for guest interviews. Click here to download at Amazon.com. NOTE: the book is also available at Apple Bookstore, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and other popular sites where ebooks are sold.

Research Report: To purchase, the entire research report click here (coming soon)

Podcast Discoveries on the Ready Entrepreneur Podcast: This information will be explained in upcoming episodes of The Ready Entrepreneur Podcast. Subscribe at Apple Podcasts to stay up to date.

Podcast Discoveries on YouTube: To watch videos explaining the Podcast Discoveries process for finding your new favorite podcasts, click here (coming soon)

Disclosure: Links to Amazon.com and related companies are affiliate links that earn for eligible purchases at no additional cost to you.

Posted on August 16, 2020 by Case Lane

Education, Inspiration, Knowledge Capital, Online platforms, Podcast Discoveries, Podcasting, Podcasting for Listeners, PREPARATION, SUCCESS

education, education outside school, learning, podcast education, podcast platform, podcast reserach, podcasting, practical education

How to be a Valued Podcast Interview Guest: The Best and Worst Practices

The Podcast Discoveries Series

In just a few short years, podcasting has arisen as the one online activity everyone must do. Not only comedians, newscasters and historians, but also corporate executives, specialized professionals, and the kid next door.

Unlike blogging which required at a minimum the ability to write, podcasting is the audio medium, a stage that permits and embraces the same chatter, banter and jokes that take place between ordinary people on average days.

In fact, the gentle nature of conversation has become the hallmark of podcasting. The platform’s success lies in its intimate connection with the listener’s ears, and its soothing waves playing in the background of walks, workouts, and commutes everywhere.

For those who wish to use podcast appearances to bolster their careers, products, services, businesses and authority, the opportunity comes with a challenge.

With an estimated one million podcasts available for download all over the world…

How do you find a podcast where you can present yourself as someone who is valuable and useful to interview?

And once you do convince someone to talk to you…

How do you leverage your appearance to grow the community or audience you are hoping to reach?

Behind the Mic: The Inadvertent Research Project

From May until August 2020, I researched over one thousand podcasts in search of relevant shows that may be interested in having me on as a guest.

I was startled to learn that what we think we may know about the podcast industry may not be true.

What we think is competition may not exist. And what we think is opportunity, may be stunningly more real than we could ever have imagined.

In this blog series, I am going to let you know what I learned from my inadvertent deep research quest into what’s really going on in the podcast industry.

Building from my How to Become a Podcast Guest post, this post provides more detailed information for potential podcast guests. Including after obtaining the interview, what should do between the confirmation of your appearance, and the day your show goes live?

The Background

If you have not read the How to Become a Guest post in this series, start there for details about my journey to be interviewed on 50 podcasts as part of a virtual promotional tour for my new book Recast. What I did not know then is I would have to research more than 1,000 podcasts, to find the 50 who have now said ‘yes’ or ‘maybe’ so far.

On purpose, I only approached podcasters, I had never heard of before. The podcasters I have heard of are some of the biggest names in the business. I immediately put them on my dream list to be approached some day in the future.

Instead, I wanted to meet and work with the vast majority of podcasters, those with shows ranked from #101 to #1,000,000 on the listener charts, in all the categories that might be applicable to my message.

I researched 1,117 podcasts

About two-thirds were not relevant to my topic.

The remaining were sent a request for an interview.

Of those who were sent a request, 25% replied – that’s double the rate quoted in most how-to articles.

Of those who replied:

About half said ‘Yes,’ and those interviews have taken place or have been scheduled. Another third said ‘Maybe’ and the balance said ‘No.’

Based on my learnings from the above, here is how to be a Valued Podcast Interview Guest: The Best and Worst Practices.

Follow-up Immediately on Communications
Manage Requests for Payments, Reviews and other Contentious Issues on Your Terms
Check Technical Requirements
Read Pre-Interview Documents and E-mail Instructions
Know Your Subject
Be Clear About Uncomfortable Topics
Get Names Right
Speak to Their Audience
Confirm Promotional Expectations
Embrace the New Relationships

Follow-up Immediately on Communications

Once you have a host’s attention, and receive an offer to appear on a show, make sure you follow-up with a confirmation, and any questions, comments, interview date or other requests, as soon as possible.

If the response is a ‘maybe,’ follow-up with the criteria that could make it a yes – ie, I’ll reach out again in 6 months to see if your calendar has freed up.

If it’s an outright ‘no,’ send a thank you for replying.

If it’s no response, there’s no need to send a follow-up unless you desperately want to interview with that host. Many podcasters know exactly what they want and who they’re looking for, and have no time to respond to every request.

Manage Requests for Payments, Reviews or other contentious practices on Your Terms

Some podcasters are asking for payment, review requests (often 5-star), listens or subscribers before they commit to an interview, or even before they consider an interview.

In my research, payment requests ranged from a $15 ‘application fee,’ to over $500 ‘premium’ service. Some stated the fees were to help them defray costs, others said it was to limit the number of requests they received.

This was not common practice, less than 2% of all requests required potential guests to make a financial or review commitment.

But potential guests should be prepared for these requests, and create your own guidelines for how to handle them.

In all cases it is up to you, the potential guest, to decide if you wish to participate.

Presumably, each host has decided the request practices are valuable to their brand, reputation, or viability. They are free to manage their podcast as they see fit, and potential guests are free to accept or reject the request.

Given that there are tens of thousands of podcast interview opportunities for guests to choose from, a potential guest should not feel compelled to engage in any practice that they do not support, or that makes them feel uncomfortable.

The best part of the online entrepreneurship world is the diversity of action, opinion, behavior, and circumstance that allows participants to choose the types of niches, communities or tribes to which they wish to belong.

This wide-open field is loaded with opportunity. There is no point contemplating a practice you do not support. Once you feel any hesitation about whether or not to contribute, move on to the next podcast on your list.

You can always go back if you feel you have not received enough interview opportunities or audience exposure, or if you really want to engage with a specific podcaster.

Check Technical Requirements

While Zoom Video has become the default provider of face-to-face global communications, it is possible for hosts to be using a different app. You should be able to confirm the technical requirements at the time of interview confirmation.

If you think you will have an issue, communicate your concern to your host as soon as possible, or at least one week before the interview so that there are no delays on the interview day.

Read any Pre-Interview Documents and E-Mail instructions the Host Sends You

Some hosts prepare an overview of the episode, or notes about the topics they want to cover. Make sure you read this document, and ask any clarifying questions prior to the interview.

If you are concerned about the structures, topics or intentions of the interview, send an email to clear the air. Or suggest a brief preliminary conversation, prior to the interview, to cover any questions.

Know Your Subject

If you sent a pitch e-mail with suggested interview topics, make sure you are able to respond to any of those suggestions. The value in your recorded conversation is in the talking. You must have something to say.

If you are promoting a book, product or service, consider making a related offer to the listeners. But make sure you ask the host’s permission first. Do not try and promote a product in the middle of the interview. The product should be relevant to your topic of discussion, and valuable to the listeners.

Be Clear About Uncomfortable Topics

If you do not wish to discuss a particular subject make sure you tell your host. At a minimum, your public information on your social media and website is open for any type of follow-up question. Assume your host will ask you about anything you have already placed in the public domain.

If the interview veers towards a topic you are not prepared to speak about, you can either side-step the question or say you do not want to discuss it. Most shows are not live, or if they are, there is a separate podcast version that can be edited later. However, do not assume this will be done. If you have concerns, discuss the issue with your host first.

Get Names Right

If you are planning to say your host’s name, make sure you are pronouncing it correctly. Clarify name pronunciations in the pre-interview, or at the beginning of the interview before you start recording.

Sometimes in the excitement of preparing for a show, you may stumble over names so it’s best to double-check that you know the correct pronunciation of both the host and show name.

Speak to their Audience

If you read the How to Become a Podcast Guest Interview in this series, you will have done your homework around the host’s podcast category, description, episode description, and episode content.

You should have an idea about how they speak to the audience of the show. Podcasters with a vibrant community may refer to their listeners by a nickname, like John Lee Dumas’ Fire Nation. If you pick up on that reference, the host will likely note your attention to detail.

Confirm Promotional Expectations

A host should not have to ask you to promote the episode you are on, but surprisingly, podcast hosts are frustrated by the lack of promotion done by podcast guests.

For hosts, the minimum requirement is to advise the guest when the show is available, and include their preferred episode link for posts.

If the host does not provide a preferred link, select your own option, like Apple Podcasts, or your preferred platform.

When the show is available, promote to your social media and e-mail lists. The number and frequency of these posts is up to you. Research or ask for the host or show’s social media handles so you can tag them when you post on your feeds.

Some hosts will provide you with episode graphics. If they do not, you can create your own. You can create a template for free using Canva, and change the podcast image and the text with each guest appearance. Copy and paste the host’s podcast art image from a directory, and give the episode number and/or title in your post.

Once you have a template, creating the graphic takes less than 5 minutes, and provides a good alternative to only posting a link.

If the host provides you with a graphic make sure you use that one.

You can also create a page on your website with graphics linking to the shows you have appeared on.

Embrace the New Relationships

The best part of this virtual podcasting tour has been meeting so many great podcasters who are doing awesome shows about a subject I champion.

As you reach out to others in your category about their shows, and your ability to provide value for their audience, you may find yourself making new friends and colleagues who become part of your community for years to come.

The opportunity to speak on their show would be the beginning of your collaboration.

Conclusion

The value of a conversation on a subject specific broadcast is timeless.

Online entrepreneurship has changed the game for so many who thought they might never be able to have a business, and the open fields for communication and information-exchange have only made the opportunity more exciting.

If you have knowledge to share with an audience, participating in the field of podcast interviews is a valuable and important contribution.

When you have the opportunity to work with a host, do your part, help grow the industry, improve everyone’s processes, and change the world.

More Information

The best part about researching 1,117 podcasts was being accepted as a guest on so many awesome shows! You can find links to all of those fabulous podcasts here.

The second best part was my new found insight into the podcast industry.

This research was so eye-opening that this post is one of five about what I learned about the podcast industry from researching 1,117 podcasts.

Here are the links to all of the posts in the Podcast Discoveries Series:

How to be a Welcoming Podcast Interview Host: The Best and Worst Practices

How to be a Valued Podcast Interview Guest: The Best and Worst Practices

Maximize Your Podcast Listening: Use Interviews to learn from Virtual Mentors

Additional Resources

Research Checklist: Podcast Guests: If you would like a free checklist for how to research and find the right podcast for you. Click here to download.

Podcast Directories: If you would like to get your own copy of the podcast directory listing and instructions based on my research click here (coming soon)

Research Report: To purchase, the entire research report click here (coming soon)

Podcast Discoveries on the Ready Entrepreneur Podcast: This information will be explained in upcoming episodes of The Ready Entrepreneur Podcast. Subscribe at Apple Podcasts to stay up to date.

Podcast Discoveries on YouTube: To watch videos explaining the Podcast Discoveries process for finding your new favorite podcasts, click here (coming soon)

Disclosure: Links to Amazon.com and related companies are affiliate links that earn for eligible purchases at no additional cost to you.

Posted on August 16, 2020 by Case Lane

Business Success, Education, IMPLEMENTATION, Knowledge Capital, Online Business, Online platforms, Podcast Discoveries, Podcast Research, Podcasting, Podcasting for Guests, PREPARATION, SUCCESS

become a podcast guest, entrepreneur advice, podcast education, podcast guest, podcast industry, podcast platform, podcast research, podcast reserach, podcasting

How to be a Welcoming Podcast Interview Host: The Best and Worst Practices

The Podcast Discoveries Series

With the rise of podcasts as an open market of free-for-all conversations, entertainment, knowledge and jokes, podcast hosts are free to manage their shows as they see fit.

There are no rules, requirements or regulations.

But after researching 1,117 podcasts to find relevant and interesting podcasts that might have me on as an interview guest, I decided to distribute the information about what I discovered.

As a podcast host, guest and listener, I found the observations from my research to be compelling, and helpful to those in the industry.

So this post is being offered only as a list of potential ideas for podcast hosts who are not sure what they would like to do with interviewing, or who would like to attract more potential relevant guests.

Everyone else, stop reading before you start complaining that you do not want to implement any of these practices, okay!

This post also does not apply to those who are, or are using, paid public relations services who have connections inside podcast networks and other means for directly contacting shows.

This is for podcast D-I-Yers and their teams who are looking for insight into the process.

The Inadvertent Podcast Research Project

The latest statistics state there are probably now at least 1,000,000 podcasts. If you are interviewing guests to provide relevant information or entertainment, and to help differentiate yourself in the market…

How do you find the people you want to talk to?

During a months long quest to be interviewed on podcasts, I was startled to gather information, and learn more than I imagined about the podcast industry.

In this blog series, I am going to let you know what I learned from my inadvertent deep research dive into best practices for podcast industry hosts, and how you can implement them in your own podcast world.

When searching for relevant guests, some podcasters can actively pull people from their community, past lives, or even their neighborhood. But others may not have anyone around who fits their ideal description for a guest.

However, you may be able to easily attract these guests through the overlooked idea of simply making sure that potential guests can find you.

You can put out a welcome mat that says ‘yes, I want to interview interesting people,’ and make it clear through your podcast, website or social media that you want people to reach out and talk to you.

The Background

Months prior to the release of my new book Recast, I set a goal to be interviewed on 50 podcasts as part of a virtual promotional tour. What I did not know then, is I would have to research more than 1,000 podcasts to find the 50 who have now said ‘yes’ or ‘maybe’ so far.

On purpose, 100% of the podcasters I approached, I had never heard of before. The podcasters I have heard of are some of the biggest names in the business. I immediately put them on my dream list to be approached in the future. But for this tour, I wanted to find the relevant podcasters, who were speaking to the audience I wanted to reach.

For your reference, here are the results from which I draw the conclusions in this post:

I researched 1, 117 podcasts, meaning I looked at the podcast details, first to determine if it was relevant to my search, then to find contact information.

About two-thirds were not relevant to my topic as defined by me, but you may think differently when you understand my process.

The balance were sent an interview request (either an e-mail or communication through their own form)

Of those who were sent an interview request, 25% replied – that’s double the rate quoted in most how-to articles.

Of those who replied:

Nearly half said ‘Yes’ and those interviews have taken place or have been scheduled.

About one third said maybe, for mostly scheduling reasons

And the balance, less than one-quarter said an outright ‘No.’

For the 75% who never responded…that is absolutely expected and understandable.

Based on my learnings from the above, here is my take on best practices for podcast hosts, who want to put out a welcome mat for potential guests

Provide a Way to Communicate
Understand the Consequences of Asking for Payments, Reviews and other upfront requests
Use Relevant Categories, Clear Descriptions and Specific Keywords
Try to Un-conflict Conflicting Show Names
No Need to Respond
Confirm Technical Requirements
Confirm Promotional Expectations

Provide a Way to Communicate

Potential podcast guests need a process for telling you they exist, and the most welcoming podcast hosts present this opening front and center on their website.

Podcast Guest Interview Request Form

Podcasters use a specific guest interview request form to gather upfront information about potential guests. These forms can be long or short, have general questions or specific, and be a great source for potential ideas.

However podcast hosts must understand that the presentation of the form is also a reflection on them. And potential guests will make a decision about the host based on the form content. This may be exactly what you want.

Create the form as you see fit for your show, content and audience. But keep in mind the potential concerns from possible guests.

Online business is all about niches, and reaching your specific community. However, if you find that few guests are completing your form, you may want to look at your requested content.

Among the concerns:

Lack of space: An answer box without a stated character limitation becomes a source of frustration when a potential guest wants to explain their pitch, but finds no room for entering the information. A good option for this is a ‘do you have anything to add’ type of box.

Phone numbers: Asking a potential guest for a phone number before you have agreed to the interview could be considered scammy, and an attempt to load up your email list with personal information.

Irrelevant questions: Questions that are unrelated to the podcast may appear to be a waste of time. The potential host is unlikely to be the only person the potential guest is approaching. Quirky, extraneous questions just take up more time to complete. However, if this is the personality you want guests to also reflect on your show, the questions can be legitimate.

A standard Website Contact Form that specifically mentions podcast guests

This is a great alternative to the specific podcast guest form. Specifically stating that potential podcast guests should complete the standard website contact form indicates the host is open to attracting guests, and is likely to read the submitted information. In most cases, this also provides sufficient space for the guest to submit their pitch.

A website e-mail address

An ‘open’ e-mail address that is not specifically limited to clients or the media can be used by the potential guest. The assumption is the email whether it says info@ or support@ or hello@, will still go to the host or podcast team.

Email in podcast description

Providing your email exactly where people are researching the podcast is extremely helpful, but rarely used. No doubt podcasters are concerned about spam. But if you do not have a website, or are using a free hosting service, you may want to include an email where it can be easily found.

Website Generic contact form

If you do not want to display your e-mail, but have a generic contact form, guests can fill that out. However, since people are leery of those contact requests going into a no-reply black hole, a note about your expected response time or other welcoming comments would make usage more likely.

Social Media

Although podcasters will likely want to drive potential guests to their social sites, you should be aware that this would be the most time consuming, and potentially, least used approach by podcasters approaching multiple hosts.

With the exception of those who spend most of their time on social media, the time and effort required to go back and forth in trying to make a cold pitch may discourage some people.

But again, this may be your intention. If you only want to work with people who engage with you on social, you can leave social media sites as your only public communication process.

Understand the Consequences of Asking for Payments, Review Requests and other contentious practices

In my research, a small number of podcasters asked for payment, review requests (often 5-star), listens or subscribers before they would commit to an interview. Sometimes before they would even consider an interview.

A host must decide if these practices are valuable to the podcast’s brand, reputation, and viability. For example, how valid are commanded reviews? For some people, it’s the number of reviews that hold meaning, not the method in which they are obtained. For others, organic reviews are more valuable and encouraged.

Given that there are tens of thousands of potential podcasts for guests to choose from, hosts can expect that some percentage of potential guests will not be willing to accept any type of ‘extra’ command in exchange for an interview. In other cases, they will almost certainly say ‘yes.’

No doubt the ‘big names,’ are not asked, nor respond to additional requests, however that does not mean they are not aware of who participates in these practices and who does not. Some podcasters are striving to build a recognized, formal podcaster community that delivers value to listeners, and sets an example for model online entrepreneurship behavior.

So do what you believe is right for your show, and expect both understanding, and negative feedback from your decision.

Use Relevant Categories, Clear Descriptions and Specific Keywords

Potential guests are going to search for relevant podcasts by categories and keywords. Make sure your title, description and category convey the message you want to communicate.

If possible, select more than one category since your topic may cover more than one area.

For podcasts that cross multiple categories, use the description to specifically describe your content. If you want to encourage guests, state in your description that you will be interviewing guests of X,Y,Z background or interest.

The descriptions for each episode are also important. If you want potential guests to understand the types of people you interview, include background, knowledge, interests and other relevant facts in the episode description.

In the Apple Podcasts show page, the first three lines of the episode description are visible. A potential guest can scan through the information, and determine if they would be a good fit.

You can always look at the descriptions of other podcasts to develop ideas about what you would like to do.

If you really want to attract only a certain kind of guest, for example one who may speak on topics like spirituality, mental health, politics, religion, and so on, put that message in your description.

Neither side is served by misunderstandings or conflicts over the meaning of certain words.

Un-conflict Conflicting Podcast Names

For our purposes, to un-conflict is to take the conflict away. Do a search for your podcast name, and see if you own the first page of the Google search results.

If you don’t own the first page, get your podcast listed in all available directories. In my research, a podcast listed in multiple directories, beyond the most obvious, typically owned the first page of the search results because Google returned the locations where the podcast appears.

Searching for the Ready Entrepreneur podcast in Google brings back first page results for listings in multiple directories. *Try to own the first page by becoming listed everywhere.*

If you don’t own the first page, check on the status of the conflicting name podcasts, especially the ones that come out above you. Even if a podcast is dead, losing search results domination means that if someone is looking for you, they might not find you, or they might go to another podcast with a similar name, see that it’s dead, and assume that you are no longer recording.

Conversely, in the research, a podcast that had only one listing for its name was usually either in a name conflict with one or many other podcasts, or was dead.

No Need to Respond to Pitches

The majority of cold interview requests never receive a response, and that is expected.

If you are interested in the guest, but have a full calendar, a legitimate ‘maybe next year’ is relevant.

Sending an outright ‘no’ typically depends on the circumstances. If you want to give the potential guest a reason, such as your podcast is coming to an end, then you eliminate the possibility of follow-up requests.

Robo-replies with specific information like you are no longer accepting guests are also helpful.

Confirm Technical Requirements

In the short span of a few months, Zoom video has gone from a ‘new’ app some people use, to the default provider of face-to-face global communications.

Zoom was by far the dominant choice for podcast interviewers.

When you schedule an interview with your potential guest, confirm the technical requirements especially if you have special requests or want to use a less popular communications app.

Existing podcasters may already be set-up for a quiet discussion, but new interviewees could have limited experience.

You can put the technical requirements in your confirmation email or calendar event.

Confirm Promotional Expectations

Unsurprisingly, podcast hosts are frustrated if podcast guests do not promote the show. For hosts, the minimum requirement is to advise the guest when the show is available, and the link you prefer for posts.

If you do not provide your preferred link, the guest will have to select their own preferred option, like the Apple Podcasts link, or not link to the show at all.

When the show is available, promotion usually extends only to social media and the guest’s e-mail lists. You will see the social posts, but not the e-mail list unless you sign-up for the guest’s community.

Good practice is to also provide your social media handles so the guest can tag you on social, and you’ll know when the episode is promoted.

An even more effective promotion is to provide graphics for the episode that the guest can use to promote on their own. But this is not necessary unless you are creating graphics for your own promotion, then you can share those with the guest.

NOTE: Podcast guests: there are some tips for creating your own consistent graphics for posts in the next article in this series: How to Be a Valuable Podcast Guest.

Conclusion

If you are a podcast host who wants to have guests on your podcast, and you welcome cold requests from potential guests in the world, these practices can help attract more of the people you are looking for.

You can also reverse engineer the requests to ensure you narrow your guest list to those who best meet the vision for your podcast and your intentions.

The general best practice is communication and mutual understanding. If someone sends you a pitch that provides value for your audience, then together you can arrange a productive interview that you both use to grow your show.

More Information

The best part about researching 1,117 podcasts was being accepted as a guest on so many awesome shows! You can find links to all of those fabulous podcasts here.

The second best part was my new found insight into the podcast industry.

This research was so eye-opening that this post is one of five about what I learned about the podcast industry from researching 1,117 podcasts.

Here are the links to all of the posts in the Podcast Discoveries Series:

How to be a Welcoming Podcast Interview Host: The Best and Worst Practices

How to be a Valued Podcast Interview Guest: The Best and Worst Practices

Maximize Your Podcast Listening: Use Interviews to learn from Virtual Mentors

Additional Resources

Research Checklist: Podcast Guests: If you would like a free checklist for how to research and find the right podcast for you. Click here to download.

Podcast Directories: If you would like to get your own copy of the podcast directory listing and instructions based on my research click here (coming soon)

Research Report: To purchase, the entire research report click here (coming soon)

Podcast Discoveries on the Ready Entrepreneur Podcast: This information will be explained in upcoming episodes of The Ready Entrepreneur Podcast. Subscribe at Apple Podcasts to stay up to date.

Podcast Discoveries on YouTube: To watch videos explaining the Podcast Discoveries process for finding your new favorite podcasts, click here (coming soon)

Disclosure: Links to Amazon.com and related companies are affiliate links that earn for eligible purchases at no additional cost to you.

Posted on August 16, 2020 by Case Lane

Education, Knowledge Capital, Online Business, Online platforms, Podcast Discoveries, Podcast Industry, Podcast Research, Podcasting, Podcasting for Hosts, PREPARATION

entrepreneur advice, entrepreneur skills, online entrepreneur, podcast education, podcast host, podcast industry, podcast platform, podcast research, podcast reserach, podcast show, podcasting

Podcast Discoveries: What I Learned About Podcasting from Researching 1,117 Podcasts in Search of an Interview

The Podcast Discoveries Series

Podcasts are the next big thing that’s already here.

Many individuals have one, so do companies, organizations, and your next door neighbor. Everyone is interested in what this rising medium means for their work, industry, knowledge, and entertainment, and everyone wants to know where it’s all going.

The numbers are impressive. One million podcasts…and growing!

But what does that really mean?

If you read my previous posts in this inadvertent podcast research series on How to Get a Guest Interview on a podcast, you may have noted some of the ‘behind the scenes’ issues that come up in this young and rapidly-growing industry.

To be clear, there are two types of podcasters. The big names backed by big money (and big publicity)…and everyone else.

This article is for everyone else…

The #101 to #1,000,000 ranked podcasters who are trying to determine how best be discovered in this new media world.

In an industry with zero barriers to entry, zero rules, zero formal structures or established reference sources, hundreds of providers, limitless locations, and money to be made, what exactly is going on with podcasting?

After setting out to find podcasts that may have me on as a guest while promoting my latest book release, I was surprised to be swept up into a much more intensive investigatory process around the entire podcast industry.

To my surprise, podcasting may not be the floating in its own competition filled airwaves, but it’s not a bastion of narcissistic hear-me activity either. There are issues in structure, reference, research and consistency, but that’s also what makes the medium an opportunity for so many…

…Until you try and exercise the niche franchise podcasting is said to have created.

Then you are back in high school, where the popular earn all the spoils, and the undiscovered scrape at the door in search of entry.

The irony is the undiscovered operate in niches that would absolutely welcome them…if only they could find them.

The current challenges for both potential podcast guests and listeners who are searching for specific categories of podcasts are:

The Directories

The Land of the Living Dead

The Definitions of Descriptions, Categories and Keywords

Hidden Contact Information

Overlapping Show Names

Inefficient Search Options

The Directories

To find a podcast, you search a podcast directory, in an app or online…or not…

Listeners find podcasts through word of mouth. I personally had never heard of Joe Rogan until Elon Musk smoking pot on his show became international news. That is both the joy and frustration of podcasts.

Podcast creators can thrive in their own communities – of millions of listeners – outside pop culture, the mainstream, regulators, an established industry or any barriers to entry, or limitations to growth.

But podcast listeners must wade through this labyrinth in search of news, knowledge, entertainment or information for their ears that is often more intimate, compelling and informative than any other medium.

The existing podcast directories have none of the product suggestion sophistication of Amazon, or algorithmic memory of Google. They have broad sweeping categories, selected by the producers, and sorted by relevancy based on popularity.

And most directories limit search results to only the top podcasts. Even a podcast searched by an exact name may not come out ahead of more popular offerings that use the same word (as the name) in a description or episode title.

The definition of ‘popular’ lies with the directories who are responding to ‘mass’ audience appeal, for a medium that thrives on niche content. This presents the top podcasts with unlimited search results real estate, and all the rest lost behind their wind.

My Inadvertent Podcast Research Project

When I set out to promote my new book Recast, through a global virtual podcasting tour, I had no idea I would end up spending months researching hundreds of podcasts.

Much to my surprise, I also discovered much more about the podcast industry than I expected…and I’m a podcaster! I have attended two podcast conferences in the past year, listened to many of the top gurus, and talked to dozens of podcasters, and never had I heard what I actually discovered on my quest to obtain a guest interview.

For the new podcaster hoping for an opportunity, rest assured the industry is still wide open and available to anyone with a good idea.

But there are also challenges.

In this unexpected podcast research blog series, I am going to let you know what I learned from my inadvertent deep research quest into what’s really going on in the podcast industry.

But first, I’ll explain my results…

The Method

You can see the details of how my research evolved in the first post How to Become a Guest on a Podcast. But here are the highlights to understand the context for the rest of this post.

I researched 1, 117 podcasts, meaning after I found the podcast name, I went in to Google and podcast directories to learn if the podcast was relevant to my topic.

70 % of the podcasts I researched were not relevant to my topic, based on criteria I established.

The rest were sent an interview request (either an e-mail or communication through their own website form)

Of those who were sent an interview request, 25 % replied – that’s double the rate quoted in most how-to articles.

Of those who replied:

Almost half said ‘yes’ and those interviews have taken place or have been scheduled. Another one-third said ‘maybe’ usually due to scheduling issues. The rest were a ‘no.’

On purpose, 100% of the podcasters I approached, I had never heard of before. The podcasters I have heard of are some of the biggest names in the business, the top 100. I immediately put them on my dream list to be approached some day in the future.

I wanted to find all the shows in the 99.99% that are speaking to the audience I wanted to reach.

And here’s what I discovered…

Many Podcasts are in the Land of the Living Dead

Somewhere in the oft-stated existence of 1,000,000 podcasts is my new question: How many of them are active?

The biggest shock in my research was the discovery of hundreds of dead podcasts that continue to occupy the world’s most important search results real estate – the first page of a Google search.

They also continue to feature in directories, coming up for categories and keywords before other shows that are still recording.

In my research, one-third of the podcasts I looked for had not had an episode in the past six months.

This is not actually a problem for podcasting. The episodes can live forever as long as someone pays the hosting fees. Great interviews, stories and dramatizations can be referred by others for years to come.

Dead podcasts are also not an issue for podcasters. There are no rules. Shows are not canceled (unless you belong in a network that does in fact cancel you). Anyone can start and end the podcast at will. A podcaster can take a year long break, and then just start talking again. There is no allotted timeslot to fill as in radio or television. Podcasters may even put all their episodes in an archive on their website.

But dead podcasts are definitely a problem for anyone hoping to guest on a show. Dead podcasts do not do interviews. My number one piece of advice when researching podcasts for interview is to check the last episode post date – before reading the description.

The possibility of a movement towards platform exclusivity will eventually end the relevancy of this rule. A podcast currently appearing in all directories will look ‘dead’ unless you know for sure that it is exclusive to one platform. However for now, this issue only applies to the biggest names, and checking first for the podcast’s active existence is the first rule of relevancy.

In all cases – regardless of the reason the show has no recent episodes – their online presence remains in place. The last post date of a podcast does not apply to relevancy for the show. You search for podcasts by name. And the name will continue to come up, until it is forced out of results by another. This effectively puts the show in the search results, and forces the researcher to look further.

If a podcast has a similar name to another, you may get both results, and have to research each possibility to find the one that could still be a good fit.

Even more frustrating for new podcasters is when Google appears to be serving up aggregated results on the first page of search – but some of the podcasts are dead.

For example if you search, Side Hustle podcast , you get this result on the first page. Looks like a great list until…

… you research each podcast and you find out that almost half are already dead!

This is an observation about how Google search works, not a commentary on the podcasts or podcasters. The podcasts marked with an X either could not be found by that name, or had a last episode date more than six months ago.

The actual recording status of the podcast is not known to this author. The only point is that these podcasts do not appear available as potential interview opportunities even though they come up on the first page of Google search results – in a curated list!

Similar results were often discovered for other ‘curated’ search result lists when multiple podcasts have a similar name. If you have a podcast with that name…and you don’t make this prominently placed list…my guess is you are cringing.

Would a deeper filtered search have generated more relevant results? Not likely. Everyone wants to see everything that is possibly available on page one, especially when you know after a few hundred searches that the process is going to take awhile.

The reality is, if you are looking for podcasts by name, and only want active shows to appear in search results, you are probably out of luck.

The Definition of Description

Podcasting is audio, all about talking – comments, observations, interviews, jokes, discussions, anecdotes – as presented by hosts.

To understand the content of a show, you can look at the title, description and episodes.

Podcasters write their own show descriptions. Some are detailed and specific, others are vague and limited. When researching the podcast, the description becomes paramount to determining if the podcast is the right fit. But it is no guarantee that you’ll find what you are looking for.

You can also look at descriptions for the actual recorded episodes, but those are as likely to be inconsistent. Some podcasters do not include descriptions for the episodes, or they write short or repetitive lines.

If a researcher is absolutely committed to finding out more, the next option is to listen to two or three random episodes with different subject titles to try and decide if the content can be confirmed.

Even if directories use descriptions to scrape for keywords, the podcaster’s intention may still not be recognized, and the podcast would be undiscovered.

Categories, Keywords and Vague Ideas Dominate Search

Podcasters typically select their categories from an existing list. Podcasters put their show wherever they see fit. Searchers have to determine if the selection matches their own definition of the same keyword.

For example: searching: ‘entrepreneur,’ ‘entrepreneurship,’ ‘business,’ and ‘success,’ led to ‘startup,’ ‘side hustle,’ ‘action,’ ‘boss,’ and all variations of ‘boss lady.’ But the descriptions behind these terms varied widely.

The descriptions can also stray into territory you may not want to cover like politics, religion, life stories, mental health and struggle issues, specific industries or careers, or spirituality. Even listening to a few episodes does not always make it clear why the words are included in the description.

A researcher has no idea how to apply correct criteria for accepting or ignoring a podcast. At that point, the best option is to make a guess.

In the Welcoming Host post in this blog series, I suggest podcasters hoping to attract guests state in the description that the podcast will include guest interviews.

Deciding on the podcast relevancy becomes a gamble for the guest who is trying to target specific types of podcasts. This is a dilemma that is unlikely to end anytime soon, as the individuality of podcasting is what makes the platform so unique.

Potential Guests are on Their Own

In a world of bubbles, niches, and tribes, potential podcast guests are the proverbial outsiders tapping at the door with goods to offer, and asking to be allowed in.

Even though many podcasters claim to want to have guests, they are either finding them within their own community, or unaware that their welcome mat has become decidedly frayed.

The companion post in this series How to Become a Guest on a Podcast provides a detailed account of how to get a podcast interview.

Given the difficulty in finding relevant podcasts, a potential podcast guest has the added struggle of determining if a podcaster is even interested in what they have to say.

Putting aside public relations companies that offer podcast guest spot services, the availability of a podcaster’s contact information was the strongest indicator as to whether or not a podcaster was open to the attention of cold guest pitches.

Since there are apparently 1,000,000 podcasts, the expectation was that there would be more ‘open’ shows than not. But the quest to find contact information indicated the opposite was true.

However, note this research does not take in to consideration podcasters who encouraged people to reach out on social media. For the most part, these requests seem to be aimed at their potential community, not podcast guests. However podcast guests may find social a more relevant place for communication than e-mail.

From best to worst option, contact information was discovered in:

1. Email in the Podcast description

Rarely, but cleverly, some podcasters put their contact email in their description. This was just joyous when this happened, ending the need to search elsewhere unless the podcaster specifically stated the e-mail was for questions and/or they had a separate direction for potential show guests.

2. Podcast Guest form on Website

This type of form, specifically aimed at prospective podcast guests, is the best indicator of a podcaster’s commitment to attracting guests.

These forms are specific to each show’s interests and include questions as generic as: why do you want to be a guest on our show; to as esoteric as: what’s your favorite ice-cream?

Potential guests must decide how to answer these questions, and whether or not it’s even worth it to take the time. But whether or not these forms attract or repel potential guests is an open question.

3. Standard Website Contact Form that specifically mentions podcast guests

The next best indication that the podcaster cares about having guests is to invite potential guests to apply through their standard ‘Contact Me’ form on their website. The greeting provides potential guests with the hope that the pitch will be read, and the host is expecting to hear from people.

4. A website e-mail address

Not every website provides an e-mail. But when they do that direct form of contact is a good alternative to having a specific form. Any form of: info@ or support@ or hello@ generic opening indicates that somewhere on the other end a host or their team will read the request.

5. Directory e-mail address

As of this writing, two directories – Listen Notes and TuneIn – provide a visible link or view of the show’s e-mail address. The emails are not 100% available, but this service was indispensable.

6. RSS feed

As of this writing, Listen Notes was the only directory I found that provided access to the RSS feed, not the URL, the actual code. If you look closely enough, you will find an email.

This information for how to use the RSS feed to obtain an email is actually in Listen Notes’ own instructions (that’s how I found out about it), so it’s available to see.

Podcasters probably used a ‘public’ email to set-up their podcast on hosting, and should not be surprised to receive an email at that address.

For the record, so far no one asked how I got their e-mail address.

7. Website Generic contact form

Many people, although not all, do have generic website contact forms. Although there is often some trepidation about whether or not your email will be read, the generic form is a good option, if there is no other choice.

8. None of the above

For podcasts with no website, no listing in Listen Notes or TuneIn, no word in their description, no accessible RSS feed, and no social media, the opportunity to reach out is lost. If these podcasters expect to receive guests, they need to create a welcome mat.

Anchor podcasts

For podcasts on Anchor, and potentially other free hosting services, the RSS feed provided a cryptic e-mail address that looked something like this: podcastsnn+nnnnnnnn@anchor.fm. The ‘n’ equals a number. The destination of these emails is unknown, and none of the few tried received a reply.

The Specificity and Confusion in Show Names are a Challenge

No two podcasts appeared to have the exact same name…but search results can return dozens of overlapping possibilities. There were many examples of this, but since I do not want to call out any one podcast name, in the example below imagine the [Podcast Name] is the same word.

The most common adaptations go like this:

[Podcast Name] [Podcast Name] with Podcast Host Name

Something! [Podcast Name] [Podcast Name] Show

[Podcast Name] Radio Show

This [Podcast Name]

That [Podcast Name]

My [Podcast Name]

The [Podcast Name]

Your [Podcast Name]

Since my method for finding podcasts was to discover a long list of names in a directory, and then search them all one-by-one afterwards, each time a [Podcast Name] was used I could go off on a tangent for an hour looking at all the variations of that one [Podcast Name].

This is bad news for any host who had the [Podcast Name] I was actually looking for. I rarely went to page two of Google search so having an overlapping name means you are being denied discovery on page one. This did not necessarily mean the podcast was dead, but it extended the time needed to try and find the exact podcast.

And if the exact podcast name could not be found, the search was dropped.

Search Options are Limited in Efficiency, not Numbers

One could expect that the best place to find podcasts would be inside a podcast directory. But the number one challenge with directories is that it appears that none offer a full listing of all 1,000,000 podcasts – dead or alive. Even if you wanted to find every ‘entrepreneur’ podcast in the world, you could not.

This is a shame because listeners are looking to niche down to their type of information or conversation, and are constantly hoping to find podcasts that appeal directly to them.

For example, I want to know who is talking about life between personal development and success. You know when you’ve done all your Tony Robbins exercises, but have not yet achieved your Tony Robbins life. (If you know a podcast covering that gap, email me).

There are so many potential discussions in every category. Yet the ability to niche down your search through search does not appear to exist. With loose description writing, no opportunity to declare sub-categories, and the lack of robustness with search engines, the capping of results means you are only seeing a fraction of the listings.

Even knowing exactly which show you are searching for does not give exact results. Searching Apple podcasts by a specific name (on iTunes desktop), does not put that podcast at the top of the list. My podcast, Ready Entrepreneur had to yield the first nine slots to others who happened to use the word ‘ready’ in their description.

Even the exact name is not quite ‘relevant’ enough for Apple Podcasts search

This left Google Search as the place to start when looking for a particular ‘category’ podcast. But even that had its limitations. As noted above, Google does not know when a podcast is dead.

Google Images was also a good option as results displayed rows and rows of podcast art for the category. But Images does not know when the art referred to a show, an episode, or even a course with the word podcast in the title.

In Search of a Searching Directory

Certain directories provide access to longer lists of search results. Listen Notes and TunedIn both go a few hundred deep, before capping results.

Directory suggestions when looking for another podcast such as “iTunes Listeners also subscribed to” and ” Listen Notes recommendations” were also helpful. But those suggestions have no descriptions, and still require further search.

Social media has millions of podcast-related posts. Searching by hashtag produced a wide variety of results that rarely led to actual shows. Like all social media, the option to spend the time to thoroughly search is available, but hardly efficient.

Host websites sometimes listed the host’s appearances on other shows, which provided a trail to similar shows or themes.

Podcast Networks group shows together, but there was surprisingly only a few of these that provided relevant options. The reason is likely that the top shows are in the top networks, and therefore not accessible to the 99.99%.

Conclusion

The podcast industry is not formal, structured or regulated, and that’s what makes it fabulous.

For a rising podcaster, researcher or listener, the challenge is to understand the vagaries and adjust accordingly. Given the information in this post, you can make your podcast accessible. You can also learn from others and model best practices.

Established podcasters who want to champion efficiencies in the industry can also stay on top of these challenges, and set an example with descriptions, art and categories that provide listeners with the best information for finding the show they want.

For all podcasters, the common effort will be in ensuring the viability of the industry by highlighting best practices, and eliminating negative ones, to create the best overall experience for all.

More Information

The best part about researching 1,117 podcasts was being accepted as a guest on so many awesome shows! You can find links to all of those fabulous podcasts here.

The second best part was my new found insight into the podcast industry.

This research was so eye-opening that this post is one of five about what I learned about the podcast industry from researching 1,117 podcasts.

Here are the links to all of the posts in the Podcast Discoveries Series:

How to be a Welcoming Podcast Interview Host: The Best and Worst Practices

How to be a Valued Podcast Interview Guest: The Best and Worst Practices

Maximize Your Podcast Listening: Use Interviews to learn from Virtual Mentors

Additional Resources

Research Checklist: Podcast Guests: If you would like a free checklist for how to research and find the right podcast for you. Click here to download.

Podcast Directories: If you would like to get your own copy of the podcast directory listing and instructions based on my research click here (coming soon)

Research Report: To purchase, the entire research report click here (coming soon)

Podcast Discoveries on the Ready Entrepreneur Podcast: This information will be explained in upcoming episodes of The Ready Entrepreneur Podcast. Subscribe at Apple Podcasts to stay up to date.

Podcast Discoveries on YouTube: To watch videos explaining the Podcast Discoveries process for finding your new favorite podcasts, click here (coming soon)

Disclosure: Links to Amazon.com and related companies are affiliate links that earn for eligible purchases at no additional cost to you.

Posted on August 16, 2020 by Case Lane

Education, Knowledge Capital, Online Business, Online platforms, Podcast Discoveries, Podcast Industry, Podcast Research, Podcasting, Podcasting for Hosts, PREPARATION

entrepreneur advice, podcast education, podcast guest, podcast host, podcast industry, podcast platform, podcast research, podcasting

How to Become a Guest on a Podcast

The Podcast Discoveries Research Series

On the surface, the standard advice is correct. If you want to interview on a podcast, you must send a compelling pitch to the podcast host, and trust your message resonates with their goals, fits in their schedule, and appears appealing to their audience.

Sounds great…except, how do you find the hosts and shows that you can pitch to in the first place?

Statistics say there are now probably about one million podcasts, which should make for a massive opportunity for potential guests to showcase their skills. After all, at that number, you are bound to find hundreds, if not thousands, of podcasters in your genre, talking to people about your topic, and looking for more.

Unfortunately that expectation comes up against a harsh reality.

Domination by the Popular

Podcasting is a rising information and entertainment platform with no formal structures or established reference resources. Podcast shows are hosted by dozens of providers, and listed in dozens more directories.

Each show self-defines through a name, description and category.

But most podcast directories, the sources for finding podcasts, limit search results to the most ‘relevant’ podcast names, which means a directory search for a keyword like ‘entrepreneur’ will not return every podcast that claims to discuss this topic.

Instead the top, meaning most popular, podcasts are provided unlimited search result real estate, and all the rest are lost behind algorithms designed to ignore them.

The problem reaches far beyond Pareto’s 80/20 principles. In the land of podcasts, a solid 99.9% of podcasts are battling just to be discovered, let alone heard. And for those who want a chance to interview and share their message, this group is even more critically important.

A targeted podcast with a dedicated group of listeners is valuable to both potential guests, and potential listeners in that niche.

Searching for compelling shows to appear on, an author or entrepreneur with a book, course, product or service to discuss and promote; a future thought-leader with startling unheard information; or a rising influencer with extraordinary processes to impart, will keep seeing the same podcast names over and over again in search results.

And by definition, those same names are overwhelmed with requests, interview each other, and work behind sophisticated PR teams designed to keep them from becoming the targets of less-established players.

Since the podcast search engines only list the Top 100, sometimes 200, ‘relevant’ search results, potential guests must find another approach for discovering podcasters who may say ‘yes’ to an interview request.

You need the shows more likely ranked somewhere from numbers 201 to 1,000,000.

So how do you find them, and obtain their interest to interview you?

The Long Road to an Interview

When I began reaching out to podcasters for my virtual book tour, I had no idea the months long quest to find relevant shows would uncover ignored realities about the podcast industry we thought we knew.

What we think is competition may not exist….

…and what we think is opportunity, may be stunningly more real than we could ever have imagined.

In this blog series, I will tell you what I learned from my inadvertent deep research quest into what’s really going on in the podcast industry.

Beginning with this Part One, where I’ll explain, based on the results I have achieved so far, how to successfully earn a guest interview.

The Method

For background, this inadvertent project began when I set a goal to be interviewed on 50 podcasts as part of a virtual promotional tour for my new book Recast.

What I did not know then is that I would have to research more than 1,000 podcasts to find the 50 who have said ‘yes’ or ‘maybe’ so far.

I considered my most realistic opportunity to be interviewed would be with rising podcasters who were speaking to the audience I wanted to reach.

This approach also does not include using any paid services like PR firms or other ‘matching’ programs. This process involves direct research only.

But before I explain the details of how I found them, here is the high level summary of my results:

I researched 1,117 podcasts (research is defined below)

About two-thirds were not relevant to my topic (as defined by me, see below for details)

319 were sent an interview request (either an e-mail or communication through their own form).

Of those who were sent an interview request, 25 % replied – that’s double the rate quoted in most how-to articles.

The other three-quarters never responded.

Of those who replied:

Nearly half, 46%, said Yes and those interviews have taken place, been scheduled, or are pending another issue like scheduling.

30% said Maybe, usually due to scheduling.

The rest gave an outright ‘No.’

How to Find Podcasters to Interview You

Based on my learnings from the above, here is how you line up an interview:

Have Something to Say
Create Your Customizable Pitch
Select Your Categories and Keywords for Your Topic (Pitch)
Establish Your Parameters for Selecting Relevant (to your pitch) Podcasts
Search Podcast Names
Find Relevant (to you and your pitch) Podcasts
Find Host Contact Information
Customize Your Pitch
Send Your Pitch to the Host
Follow-up as Appropriate

1. Have Something to Say

Podcasting is an audio product. People talk. And for podcast hosts, the value in the talking comes from the information you are offering to their audience.

In all circumstances, whether you meet a podcast host in person, send an e-mail, or leave a voice message (yes, that’s a thing), you have to have something to say.

You must know why you want to be interviewed.

What is the value you have to offer their audience?

Are you promoting a book, course, software, product or service that their listeners will find useful?

Are you promoting yourself because you have an inspirational or compelling story?

Maybe you want to publicize your own blog, podcast or YouTube channel, and grow your audience by reaching a compatible audience.

Begin the process of requesting an interview AFTER you have developed your message.

You don’t have to have a canned speech or slick press release, in fact, it’s better if you don’t. What you need is a compelling reason why you want someone to have a chat with you for 30 minutes or more.

A well-developed message also keeps you focused on the same topic and context for your pitch, interview applications, pre-interview conversations, and ultimately, the interview.

For example, my work encompasses many potential topics, but I focused on promoting the message of my book Recast, which prepares aspiring entrepreneurs to start online businesses. The information I have for the listeners encourages people to start their own businesses, and includes strategies that can help them move forward. That message formed the main content of my pitch.

2. Create Your Customizable Pitch

Once you know what you want to say, you must craft a compelling pitch a – reason why you would be a valuable guest – message to the podcast hosts.

One note: Some podcasts are run by teams, and have an assistant or producer to vet potential guests. Unless otherwise stated (which it never was), always address your pitch to the host. However, be prepared to send a request to one person, and receive a response from another.

To get the host’s attention, you must write a pitch that captures your value in succinct and obvious sentences. Some people claim this means short e-mails, but that is not necessarily true.

You have to include information any host would need to know about who you are, and what you want to talk about. They rarely need your whole bio, unless your pitch is about an extraordinary life story. But you should have a one paragraph explanation of your message, product or service, and how it relates to their audience.

Within your standard pitch, make sure you leave room for customization. As you will see below, researching the podcast provides an opportunity to learn where you may have common interests with your host. You can mention these interests in your pitch.

Also when you customize your pitch, you will be relating your overall discussion concept to their specific audience. This is a practice, not only to gain their interest, but also for you to ensure you are not wasting time.

If you look at the podcast, and the episode topics do not seem relevant to your topic, then don’t bother sending the pitch.

You also customize your suggested discussion topics. Advice about writing good pitch letters usually always mentions ensuring you suggest discussion topics. Surprisingly in my experience, few hosts referred to this information. However, by including it, you are demonstrating that you have looked at their show, and know how they prefer to present topics.

In #7, I cover how to communicate to the hosts. Some hosts have specific guest request requirements, and you will not be able to send your pitch as an e-mail. But you will still need the same information that is already captured in your pitch to answer questions on a specific guest appearance request form, or in any other format..

3. Select Your Categories and Keywords

Before you begin to research potential podcasts, you must know the podcast category or keywords that you want to search.

This process is wide-open for questions, but you must start somewhere. If you are uncertain where your topic falls, look at the category listings in Apple Podcasts, and select the one that is closest to your idea.

Apple Podcasts is considered the most reliable podcast directory in terms of both popularity, and ease of use. However this may change in the future, as podcasters begin to obtain exclusive programming deals.

The various podcast directories use different words for their categories, but the general concepts are the same. If possible, select more than category. As you will see below, your topic may cover more than one area.

You also need to select keywords because many podcasts put detailed information in their description, and many directories also search by description. You want the directory search engine to return any podcast that mentions your keyword.

In my case, I searched: ‘entrepreneur,’ ‘entrepreneurship,’ ‘business,’ and ‘success.’ However because of some of the results I found, I also ended up being led to search: ‘startup,’ ‘side hustle,’ ‘action,’ ‘boss,’ and all variations of ‘boss lady.’

Do not try and come up with every possible category for every type of podcast your topic may be lurking in. Search results begat search results, and you will find more than enough options as you keep going.

Select two or three categories or keywords, and move on. But you may find you need your own personalized selection criteria before you can decide.

4. Establish Your Parameters

Podcasters select their categories and name their own keywords. There is no standard definition or meaning for the same words. To weed out those podcasts that you do not think are right for you, you have to decide what you think the words mean. This action occurs simultaneously with #5, but some of you will already know where you stand on these terms.

When you look at categories, you may become quickly overwhelmed by the possibilities. Establish the parameters for topics you do or do not want to cover. You do not have to speak to everyone. Nor do you have to feel that if you skip some podcasts, you are leaving an opportunity behind.

For example, you may not be able to decipher the exact tone of the podcast content with words like spiritual, inspirational, political, or religious in the description.

The question you have to ask is: would the podcast host want to talk about my topic within one of these contexts, or leave the discussion more open? If you cannot determine which way the show goes, skip the show.

You may not know for certain if you are wrong or misread a podcaster’s intentions. But you will know whether you want the additional concern of a potential conflict, or inability to speak on a subject as the podcast’s listeners expect.

If you like the potential of the show, but you are not certain about the content, you can also always listen to a few episodes. But you may have to listen to several before you understand the content. In that case, you have to decide whether or not you have time to listen to every possible show (see #7).

If there are topics you want to avoid, and the podcast description, episode titles or previous guests indicate those subjects may come up, skip the podcast.

As you are about to discover, this search process has many roads. Set the parameters within which you are most comfortable.

Note for podcast hosts: The Welcome Host post in this blog series covers how to make your descriptions more transparent for potential guests.

5. Search Podcast Names

Okay now you are ready to find some podcasts.

To find podcast names, you will be searching two primary sources – Google and podcast directories.

Through this research, I discovered there are at least 50 directories where a podcast can be listed. And I’m sure there are many more. The directories include every podcast platform like Apple Podcasts, along with other apps, hosting services, and other places where podcasts are listed.

Search Google and directories for podcast names that sound ‘relevant’ to your pitch topic.

Based on search results, I narrowed directory searches to the ones listed below. I created a list of podcast names to research in source and category batches, and listed them in a spreadsheet, before going through the process in #6.

Of course, you can do a massive search up front for every podcast name of interest, and then get into details. I found searching in batches helped me understand trends.

In all cases, I was looking for a podcast that appeared to be relevant – based on the name – and I would continue the search into the details of the podcast through the method beginning in #6.

I searched each of the sources below for the keywords – entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, business and success – followed by the word ‘podcast.’

Podcast names were mostly discovered in Google and specific directories. The percentage next to the source represents the total share of podcast names researched that came from that source.

In descending order of weight, results for all podcasts searched went like this:

Google Search – 25% of all searches (including podcasts I was not searching for)

Searched for [your keyword] + the word ‘podcast.’

Google search was the best place to start because you are going to have to come back to Google to find the detailed information about each podcast you are interested in.

I put the keyword (ie. entrepreneur) plus podcast in the search bar, and a long list of results came up. An even better list appeared when I accidentally hit ‘Google Images’ (who knew!).

Many podcasts have similar names, and Google returned multiple podcasts for a particular search. This is great for the searcher, and either valuable for a podcaster being associated with another, hopefully more popular name, or horrible because your podcast can become lost or confused with another.

TuneIn – 17%

Searched for [keyword], but search ended after several pages, so you can assume it is limited.

Searching directories did not begin with the most popular, Apple Podcasts, because they only display the Top 100 that they consider ‘most relevant’ for a search term.

*Apple Podcasts does not display what it considers less ‘relevant’ podcasts leaving out the 999,900 with content you may be want*

Apple Podcasts instructions are to use more specific keywords. However, if you search by a specific podcast name, for example ‘the ready entrepreneur podcast.’ Apple displays other podcasts that use the word ‘ready’ in the description before showing the podcast of that name.

*Searching for Apple Podcast’s definition of a more specific search term?*

By definition, this project was searching for the awesome podcasters ranked #101 to #1,000,000, and required directories with deeper dives into their listings.

So far Castbox, ListenNotes and TuneIn were the most reliable for this process. But Apple Podcasts remained the standard for researching a podcast’s active status and description.

Castbox – 14%

Searched for [keyword], but search ended after several pages. Castbox does not state how many results it displays

Google Images – 13%

Searched for [keyword] podcast

Google Images displayed rows and rows of podcast art with the keyword searched. This proved to be an unexpected gold mine, but as noted in #6, a first page Google search result does not equal an active podcast.

Player FM – 9%

Often in this process, a search in one direction would lead in another direction. A blog post led to two keyword searches in Player FM, specifically ‘be your own boss’ and ‘taking action’ that resulted in a long list of names.

There are many angles where you can search for podcast names. These names most likely would have turned up in another directory search depending on the order that you conduct the search.

Listen Notes – 8% including recommendations

Searched for [keyword] podcast ,but free search ended at page 5 or 6 of 10,000+ results.

Listen Notes and TuneIn were both extremely important to the research process for the same reason…the sites also display the podcast e-mail address. This was huge! But became precarious, as I’ll explain in #7.

None of the other 54 directories that I’m aware of provide the podcast e-mail address on the podcast show page.

Apple Podcasts Listeners also subscribed to – 7%

Every podcast name search included checking the Apple Podcasts page. When searching, related podcast suggestions appeared at the bottom of the page, and provided another avenue for names.

Other sources:

Social Media

The challenge with social media as noted in other parts of this post is you do not get all the information you need for determining if the podcast is relevant to your pitch. You inevitability return to Google and the directories to find more information. But social can yield some results.

Host was Guest on another show

When researching a host, the website may show other podcasts that the host has appeared on, which could be related to your topic. If a show looked relevant, it was added to my list.

Show within a network

Some shows are part of podcast networks of multiple shows. When the website led to a network, I researched other relevant shows.

Referrals

Once you begin talking to podcasters, they will likely have other names you can try to contact.

6. Find Relevant Podcasts

For each podcast name found through the researching in #5, the next step is to determine if the podcast is relevant for the topic you want to discuss.

a. Search each podcast by name in Google search.

Make sure you include the word ‘podcast’ with the podcast name, or you may just receive unrelated blog posts.

If the podcast name is generic put the name in quotations “[podcast name]” so Google knows to search for the entire phrase.

Look at the results. I rarely went beyond the first page of search results to look for a podcast, unless the podcast name generated multiple results for different, but similarly named podcasts, then I checked page 2 to see if there were more.

If no podcast of that name or similar shows up on page one, the show is probably dead (more on that later). Move on to the next name on your list.

If you are certain the show exists, you can continue to search deeper into the results.

b. Find the podcast’s Apple Podcasts page.

You can actually look at the podcast show page in any directory, but Apple Podcasts has some advantages. The page displays the podcast description, AND the first three lines of the description for each episode. This is helpful in trying to determine if the show actually has interviews, and the types of topics that are under discussion.

If there is no Apple Podcasts page, the podcast may be dead. But you can check for any podcast directory that shows up on the first page of Google search results.

c. Open Apple Podcast directory listing

Before moving on, check the last episode posting date!

This was absolutely crucial as I found out the hard way. As noted above, over 2/3 of the searched podcast names were not relevant, and within that number the number one reason was because there had been no new episodes for the past six months.

I made up the six months threshold as my own criteria. You will have to decide how long you believe makes sense for your category. If your work is seasonal, six months might be too short. But I decided if there were no new episodes, the podcast was over.

As I note in another post, this is an interesting question around how many active podcasts really exist, and when or if, a podcast is really over. A podcaster may just be on a multi-year break!

If the podcast did not appear in Apple Podcasts, pick the first directory to appear in the search results, and follow the same process. However, many directories do not provide the episode description which makes it difficult to determine if a show is applicable to your topic. Even if the overall description is long and detailed, you may still not have enough information to make a decision.

d. Read the description

The podcast description gives you an idea of the relevancy to your topic. But the description is whatever the host says it is, which may not be transparent as previously above.

However the description is usually more applicable than the category, because the description should be an indication of the host’s intentions, and may even state if they welcome guests or intend to have guests interviews.

e. Check for interviews

Many podcasts are comments, discussions between hosts or observations, and do not actually have interviews. On the Apple Podcasts page, if you think the description is a perfect fit, but there are no recent interviews, click to see more episodes, just in case. However, if there are none, sadly you must move on.

You can also note immediately if every episode is 5 or 10 minutes long, there are probably no interviews.

f. Eliminate the non-relevant

If all the checks above point to a good fit, the next step is to contact the host, which begins in #7.

Unfortunately, more than 2/3 of the podcast names discovered in #5 turned out to be irrelevant for my purposes.

Here are some of the reasons why, your own reasoning will be based on your criteria.

The percentage is the share of podcast names that were considered not relevant for my purposes, for the following reasons:

Last episode more than six months ago – 28%

This was the biggest surprise in the research. Hundreds, probably thousands of podcasts, continue to appear at the top of search results even though the last episode could have been years ago.

Because podcasts live forever (assuming someone is paying for hosting), the search results reflect this permanency, not date-specific relevancy.

For potential guests, this result is a nightmare. Dead podcasts do not do interviews. Because of this reality, the number one rule in relevancy research is to check the last episode air date.

The six months cutoff time is arbitrary, and does not necessarily mean the podcast is dead. You can determine any criteria you want, and use it as a cut-off for whether or not you will continue researching the show.

No interviews – 15%

As noted above, make sure the show actually has interviews. You are not going to research a show that has a history of only doing one-person short, commentaries.

Narrow topic – 31%

This issue is topic specific, and really dependent on the content and tone of your pitch. Based on your pitch, some podcasts may be too far niched down to fit your subject. For example, if you want to discuss starting an online business, podcasts aimed at a specific industry, corporate life, or stories of personal struggle, are not a good fit.

Also some podcasts are created for a specific population, ie. a business school that only interviews people within their community.

Other Reasons included:

Language

Podcasters may have a title and descriptions displayed in English, but a show that is primarily spoken in another language. In Listen Notes, you can see the podcast language on the show page, but I usually did not discover this issue until I was looking the host or show website.

Could Not Find Podcast

This outcome was the most mysterious. As noted in #5, the podcast names comes from a search result – so where did the podcast go? Even if a large percentage of podcasts are dead, the search result vibrantly lives on in Google or a podcast directory.

However, if a podcast does not show up on page one of search results for its own name, chances are, even if the episodes are still around, more information is buried deep.

In some cases, only the name of the podcast, and the graphic, still exist in a podcast directory, and all other traces have disappeared from the obvious sources.

But again, if you really want to find a show, you can keep searching.

No Contact Information

This outcome is included here because shows with no contact information actually took longer to research, and of course did not end up being contacted. This was often disappointing, as I explain in #7. Many podcasts that look awesome have no contact information available.

One note: Some of these shows may have social media contact information, but as noted below social media is not ideal for this process unless you are intent of reaching a specific host.

Potential podcast hosts can see information about how to rectify the ‘no contact information outcome’ in Welcome Host post for this series.

7. Find Host Contact Information

Once you have identified your relevant podcasts, you must communicate your interview request to the host. To do that, you must find contact information. With the exception of 7.a, the contact information you are looking for is the show or host e-mail address.

Look for contact information in the following order:

a. Search for a website

Open a second Google search tab.

Keep the Apple Podcast page open so you can refer back to it for #8. Search the podcast name again, and look for a website.

If no website, move on to #7.b.

If the show or host have a website, look for one of the contact options below. Also, if available, look at the podcast page and about page for information that will allow you to customize your pitch as in #8.

Podcast Guest Interview Request Form

If the website has a specific podcast guest interview request form, you must use it. When researching, this result is typically the best and worst option. It’s the best because a specific form indicates that the host clearly wants to interview people, and has put thought into the process. That’s admired and appreciated.

But a specific form is the worst because you have to abandon your carefully crafted pitch, and re-write your thoughts and ideas into a structure the host has created. Re-setting your pitch to their questions may take a significant amount of time. But you have to decide if you want to make the effort.

Standard Website Contact Form that specifically mentions podcast guests

Check the website contact page. If the host specifically states that podcast guests must use their website contact form – use their website form.

However, if the standard form does not mention podcast guests, try the other methods below to find an actual e-mail address before coming back to a generic contact form.

Website e-mail address

Any e-mail address that does not specifically say what it’s for, ie. do not use the one that says ‘coaching clients contact me here.’ But do use the info@ or support@ or hello@, if that is the displayed e-mail. You can only assume the request will go to the host’s team.

b. Listen Notes e-mail address

Listen Notes displays an e-mail button on the podcast page. Usually, there is an e-mail available. However, after an unknown number of uses, ListenNotes cut me off, and kept prompting me to sign-up for their premium service. You may receive the same prompt or one to login.

c. TuneIn email address

As of this writing, TuneIn still provided open access to the podcast e-mail address, if available. If the podcast’s TuneIn directory listing did not come up in search, search again specifically listing it like this: [podcast name] TuneIn.

If it still does not come up, the podcast is probably not listed in TuneIn.

d. RSS feed

Some directories provide access to the RSS feed, not the URL, the actual code. If you look closely enough, you will find an email in the code.

This information is actually in Listen Notes’ own instructions (that’s how I found out about it), so it’s available to see, but who knows how long this option will be available.

One note about Anchor podcasts: Anchor is a free podcast hosting service. In the beginning of the research, if a podcast only displayed an anchor e-mail, I tried it. But after never receiving a response, and also seeing some podcasts had a generic Soundcloud email (feeds@soundcloud.com), I concluded that some of these hosting services create a generic e-mail that does not go to a human.

If you are a podcast host using Anchor, check out my blog for hosts for tips about how to put contact information where a potential guest can find it.

e. Website Generic contact form

If no email can be found, but the website has a generic contact form page, then fill that out with your pitch in the Comments or similar box..

f. None of the above

If none of the methods work, and you do not want to go down the social media route, label the podcast with your ‘no contact information’ designation, and move on.

g. A Note about Social Media

The list of contact methods above does not include social media. Some podcasters encourage website visitors to reach out on social media, but it is not clear if they expect to hear from potential podcast guests through their social feeds.

You can absolutely reach out on social if you think it’s appropriate. This is a personal decision. If you spend a lot of time on social media, you can put social media at the top of your communication approach, seek out podcasters to connect with, build a rapport, and then make the interview request.

But this is a longer process that may limit your ability to clearly pitch your idea.

For researching through social media consider:

1) Time: For the typical person hoping for a guest spot, the additional work (and potential for distraction) in wading through social media feeds would be worth the effort for those podcasts where you are absolutely set on making an appearance. This may be true for your topic, and worth the time.

2) Limitations: You will have to determine if communicating through social will adequately support your pitch. Typically, you are word constrained, and the back and forth severely limits how you can present your message. For some potential guests, social may be preferred to emails, to others it would be a strain.

8. Customize your Pitch

Remember the website reading you did in 7.a, and the Apple Podcasts page you left open so you could see the descriptions…now is the time to put that information to use.

Change and customize your pitch to include any information that may make an interview with you more appealing to the host.

Check the host’s background, where they’re from or previous work – do you have anything in common?

If the podcast has a specific theme, point out how your pitch aligns with the theme.

For the suggested topics, use a specific gender if applicable, and tailor your suggested talking points to the podcast. For example, if the podcast has a lot of how-to episodes, try to see if you can make your pitch how-tos also.

Starting with an e-mail pitch template is absolutely valid, but customizing each request to the specific show is the practice you need to confirm your relevancy research.

9. Send Your Pitch

Remember how you left the Apple Podcast page open? Make sure you write the podcast name and host name exactly as you see them listed in the directory. If you want to avoid making a mistake, copy and paste from the directory page to your e-mail.

10. Follow-up Immediately

If the host replies with interest, follow-up immediately with your questions, answers, comments, interview date confirmation, or other relevant details.

If the reply is a ‘maybe,’ follow-up with the criteria that could make it a ‘yes’ – ie, I’ll reach out again in 6 months to see if your calendar has freed up.

If it’s an outright ‘no,’ send a thank you for replying.

If you receive no response, there’s no need to send a follow-up unless you desperately want to interview with that host. Many podcasters know exactly what they want and who they’re looking for, and have no time to respond to every request. Also some podcasters may take months to go through their e-mail, and you should give them time to respond.

Keep track of the shows you contact, the date contacted, and the contact information, and create a system for following up as necessary.

Conclusion

This method for landing a guest interview on a podcast could be described as ‘brute-force.’ Researching and reviewing all the details before you even send an e-mail takes time and patience.

But by approaching the process this way, you gain incredible insight into the activity in your field, and realize where there is opportunity for more and varied voices in the podcast space.

Finding the podcasters at #101 to #1,000,000 introduces you to a broader audience, with diverse voices, experiences and knowledge. You, your audience, the host and the host’s audience all benefit from valuable messages shared with more people. Seeking out the 99.99% is worth the effort, to strengthen and expand your message.

More Information

The best part about researching 1,117 podcasts was being accepted as a guest on so many awesome shows! You can find links to all of those fabulous podcasts here.

The second best part was my new found insight into the podcast industry.

This research was so eye-opening that this post is one of five about what I learned about the podcast industry from researching 1,117 podcasts.

Here are the links to all of the posts in the Podcast Discoveries Series: