Ready Entrepreneur

Business Ideas, Business Operations, Business Success, Knowledge Capital, Money, Online Business, Online platforms, Podcasting, Podcasting for Hosts, Start a Business, Strategies for Aspiring Entrepreneurs, Strategies for New Entrepreneurs, Tips for Aspiring Entrepreneurs, Tips for New Entrepreneurs, Tips for Wantrepreneurs

This post is part of the Real Stories Behind Making Money Online Series.

Information is valid as of February 26, 2022

The oral tradition has sustained humanity for millennia. Without the spoken word, and the passing of information through speech, our progress would have been severely slowed.

So when the podcasting format appeared, with its ease of use and access, no human should have been surprised when everyone decided to start a podcast.

But in fact, although podcasting looks like the ready domain of every talker across all subjects and ideas, today there are over 3 million podcasts, a fraction of which have at least ten episodes, and another fraction of which are considered consistently active.

As the least crowded of the major online platforms, podcasting is an extraordinary opportunity for anyone with a message. But creating a podcast does require production equipment, some technical skill, and quiet time to get your show recorded.

And of course, there is the talking part…

Podcasting is for those who can carry on a conversation, teach, entertain, or facilitate discussion for an audience they cannot see. It is not for those who are turned off by the sound of their own voice, afraid to play with digital files, and have no interest in promotion.

With podcasting, the opportunity to create and join the podcaster community remains a reality for those who want to try it. As each new show emerges, a successful gem brightens, and the excitement over podcasting begins again.

And it’s important to understand how you can monetize your podcast, and use the audio program to your advantage.

Podcasting as Your Online Business

While starting an online business is an extraordinary opportunity for you to establish a foundation for your own professional satisfaction, financial security, and lifestyle freedom, to get started you have to select an online platform that fits your interests, skills and budget.

Podcasting allows you to have open discussions about any subject in the world, share the conversations you want, grow an audience that enjoys listening to valuable information, and earn income through sponsorships, advertising and memberships.

But does the platform have all the elements you want and need for an online business venture?

If your online platform of choice is to start a podcast, you need to be aware of the joys and limitations of the effort.

In this article, I explain the real story behind starting a podcast to make money online.

Podcasting is for Talkers

A podcast is a streaming audio program, usually recorded, sometimes live, that can be supported by advertising, sponsors or listeners.

The term podcast comes from merging the idea of an iPod, a portable audio player, with broadcasting to, in the beginning, play radio programs. The pod part remains a mystery for those who may not know the word iPod was made up by a copywriter.

Although many have tried to develop an acronym for it…the word is just iPod. A word now forever tied to the podcast communication medium. While most iPods remain buried in the back of consumers closets, the podcast holds firm as the legacy creation from the device’s existence.

Today, podcast content has gone far beyond existing radio programs. The range of programming you can listen to includes commentaries, historical narratives, interviews, true crime, sports analysts, fictional dramas and much more.

If you want to start a podcast to make money online, you have to consider the subject you will be delivering to your listening audience. Is there an angle or viewpoint missing from the current offering of podcasts (there always is), and how can you deliver for that audience?

Podcasting is for talkers, and podcasts are for listeners. The content you need to create to make podcasting pay must align with that basic fact. You have to create audio programming that people want to hear.

Become a Podcast Host

When you create a podcast, you are the host. Whether you plan to speak solo on a subject for a half-hour, interview an interesting speaker, or direct a debate between two guests, you are in charge of the show.

When you are thinking about creating your podcast, consider who you want to be, and how you want to run the show.

Podcast Format

Podcasts are found through podcast directories, and all list various categories of related content. But all of the categories are subject…not format, specific.

You are going to want to select a format for your show.

Decide on the type of show you want to host. Some shows sound like parties, others are serious. Some have a lot of adult language, some play music, some are always live…you can do any type of performance to attract your audience.

You can even mix your formats, maybe have a commentary episode , then an interview, then a teaching episode, then back to a commentary.

Podcasting has no rules. You decide on the format, length, content, tone, and pace of your show.

The only basic concept is that the audio must be clear. You are asking listeners to give up their time to hear your show. Poor audio quality creates an unsatisfactory user experience, which typically does not lead to repeat customers.

If there is a question between experimental content and audio quality, choose audio quality all the time.

Should You Start a Podcast?

Once you consider the format that might work for you, you will have to decide if podcasting is going to be your online business.

You can go all in with a podcast..if you:

Like to talk
Have a good subject area or topic, or a flair for audio creativity
Are not afraid to promote your program
Have the ability to edit and produce digital audio, or pay someone to do the work for you
Are prepared to be consistently and reliably posting shows

How to Start a Podcast

The technical aspects of starting a podcast creates trepidation for potential podcasters.

The basic approach is:

Name your show
Record an audio program, edit as necessary
Create a show graphic for the cover art
Upload to a podcast hosting service

The process can be 100% free, which is one reason there are so many podcasts that only post an episode or two. Assuming you have a digital device like a smartphone, and access to the Internet. You can record your audio, download your file, and host your podcast on a free service.

But if you definitely want to build a business out of your podcast, in most cases there will be upfront expenses for a quality external microphone and a dedicated podcast hosting service. If you decide to have a website for your show, your costs increase.

The investment in an external microphone is typically worth the cost. As stated earlier, audio quality is the hallmark of good podcasting, and having a dedicated microphone gives your show a professional characterization that you will want to continue.

No Frills Podcasting

The no-frills, all free road to podcasting would work like this:

Record your show on your smartphone or laptop using the built-in microphone
Edit your show using free software like Audacity, or don’t edit at all
Create a show graphic using a free tool like Canva
Create an account on a free hosting service like Anchor, and upload your files

In no time, you will be live and broadcasting to the world. As you grow your audience, you can add the other features that would transform your podcast into a business.

Podcast Hosting

A podcast hosting service stores your recorded file and creates an RSS feed that can be distributed widely to ensure you reach your targeted audience.

Today, podcast hosting providers offer free and paid services.

Free Podcast Hosting

Increased competition has opened up opportunities for podcasters as more free services are offered by hosting providers who cover programming needs. In fact, some of the free services are beginning to offer more features than the paid ones!

But typically, there will be a catch – usually related to using the service’s branding and advertising – which constrain your money making options and intentions.

Paid Podcast Hosting

Paid hosting will include features like reporting where you can track your audience growth, and tools for social media or your own website.

Costs typically depend on factors like podcast length. For example, Buzzsprout’s rates are free for up to two hours a month, paid rate starts at $12 a month for up to three hours.

If you plan to do a daily half-hour podcast, you should look for the most affordable rate.

Recording and Distributing Your Podcast

Recording

Once you know where you will be hosting your content, you can create it. Podcast content is created everywhere – from car commutes to Hollywood studios. But if you’re just starting out, your preference is likely to be a quiet corner of your home where no external noises will be picked up by the microphone.

But even intended silence is not assured, as dogs bark, kids laugh, and the delivery trucks drop packages at your door.

You will have to find the best time to record, maybe after trying several times, before you know what will work best for you.

Ad-libbing versus Reading

Some podcasters swear by the natural, free-flowing conversational style that ad-libbing brings to a recorded show. They keep just a few points in mind, and then say what they want to say off the top of their heads.

Others find ad-libbing too unstructured and risky. They prefer to remember everything they want to say by writing it down first, and reading from a prepared document.

If you are doing a commentary show, you may want to have notes to help you remember your best points, and ad-lib only at naturally sounding spots in your dialogue.

For interviews, you have almost the same split between those who read from prepared questions, and those who allow the conversation to flow. Since either option can make for great audio, you just have to decide how comfortable you are with the outcome.

Editing

Uhhh….Ummm…click…long pause…doorbell…Ahhh…long pause…’oh, can you take that out?…’

Editing the podcast can turn a 30 minute project into three hours, it smothers the joy of the production, and can be one of the reasons many podcasters drop off the platform after only a few episodes.

Some podcasters recommend leaving in all the ‘natural’ sounds, but have you ever heard a successful podcast that is not also a clear and smooth broadcast? If your guest takes long pauses that split the flow of the show, that’s where you start editing. If the sounds are just natural conversational speak, you can leave it in.

Either way, even if you are not personally editing the core show content, you may need to add an intro or outro to your show, or if you want to get paid…advertising, which still takes time and requires some production.

Editing can be outsourced, but you must carefully select your editor and provide clear instructions. You will still need to listen to the show to make sure it sounds the way you intended.

If the first editor you select does not work out, keep trying until you find a good one.

If you have no funds to hire an editor, you will have to do the work yourself using free software like Audacity. The app has a lot of features, but you only to need to learn the basics that will help you create a good show. So go ahead and set aside the extra time to get the editing work done.

But remember, editing is not the fun part of podcasting. Be aware that this may the beginning and end of your efforts if you are not realistic about the time and effort it takes to produce a good-sounding show.

Adding Music and Effects

Music is a wonderful addition to a podcast show, especially a consistent intro that becomes your theme. On the Ready Entrepreneur podcast, you can hear the ‘news room’ sound that signals the show is information and discussion oriented.

To add music to your show, you can search for websites that offer free, cleared music.

Clearances

If you plan to use copyrighted music, and make money off your podcast, you must obtain a clearance from the copyright owner. Unilaterally, using someone else’s content to make money is not legal, and not cool.

Send an email to the copyright owner explaining who you are, why you want to use the music, and how you plan to use the music. You might be surprised by the response. Many copyright owners are happy to share their creation, especially since podcasts are offered for free, and an up and coming podcaster who intends a limited use of the product, is not typically a threat to their ownership.

Video Podcasts

YouTube has become one of the top platforms for ‘listening’ to podcasts. And many podcasters make a video version of their show.

If you are doing interviews, and use Zoom or another video communication platform to record, you automatically have another asset when you create the podcast. You can edit the video and put it on your YouTube channel.

Creating a video podcast enhances your web presence, provides more search engine results, gives you an opening to another audience, and provides your guests with another asset to share with their audience.

The video podcast is extra work, but it is also a great option for extending your podcast brand.

Transcripts

Re-purposing podcast material is one of the reasons the medium is a great asset for podcasters. If you write out your show, you have automatically created the transcript that you can also post when you upload the episode and make it available to listeners.

In general, best practice is to include a transcript of your show for the hearing-impaired. While there is limited enforcement of this practice, if you have the material, you should post it. If you wrote out your show but ad-libbed, you can put a disclaimer at the top of the transcript that says it may not be an exact word-for-work transcription of the show.

The transcript can also be used to create subtitles if you decide to post a video version.

When you are first getting started with your show, focus on delivering great content. But as you are comfortable with production…and certain you will continue, look at the other services offered by your hosting provider and consider adding features to your show.

Admin and Legal Stuff

DISCLAIMER: This section is provided for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. For all legal issues related to your podcast, you should seek the advice of a legal professional.

When you create a podcast, accessibility is not the only administrative issue that you may encounter.

If you are doing guest interviews, many guests will assume it is audio only. But if you plan to post the video, make sure you advise your guests, that show will include a video version – and get a signed clearance.

Your podcast episodes are assets and you want to be able to use them across platforms as you see fit. While there has yet to be a major case of someone suing over a podcast interview, it’s better to get clearance ahead of time that the guest knows you own the show, and may use the audio, video and guest likeness (photos) for distribution and promotion.

You can obtain this clearance before the interview by including it as a statement on your guest interview form that the potential guest has to check before submitting their request.

You should also be careful about using copyrighted images, quotes, graphics, videos or other content. You want your podcast to stand-alone as your own material, so make sure all the content you include is owned by you, or has an open creative-use license.

Podcast Directories

Once you have completed recording and editing your show, you will post it to your hosting provider.

Most hosts will automatically distribute your show to a number, but not all, of the podcast directories. The podcast directories are the lists of all the podcasts available to listen to on a specific platform.

While the biggest names like Apple, Amazon and Spotify are exactly where you want to be, you will also want to make sure your podcast is listed on every available source.

Being in every directory increases your search presence, and enhances your ability to be found by random listeners. When you search for your podcast online, you want to ‘own’ the first page of search results.

Check your host provider’s list of automatic feeds against the list of all possible directories to confirm that your podcast can be found ‘wherever you listen to podcasts.’

Promoting Your Show

While you can be discovered through a listener directory search, the only successful way to promote your show is word of mouth.

No podcast directory is perfect in its search and information capabilities. And no service is offered that breaks down all the podcast information to help you find the exact type of show you are looking for.

So if you have a podcast, you have to promote, promote and promote again.

The podcast launch is typically the first move new podcasters make to get their show in front of people. You promote directly to your list, friends, organizations, and anywhere you have an audience to let them know that your show is available.

But after the launch, you have to keep growth going by spreading the word through social media, your work or business, speaking, and guest podcasting.

For every episode, create show posts that highlight the content and can be promoted across social media platforms. If you have guests, distribute the posts to them and encourage them to promote on their own social feeds.

If you are speaking about a particular product or person on your show, give them a shoutout on social media also, by tagging, and letting them know they were featured.

And keep talking about your podcast. Mention your show wherever you have a chance. Re-use the content, across platforms, and re-use the promotion materials to re-feature a good or popular episode once or twice a year.

How Podcasts Make Money

The more you can promote your show, get the word out, drive listeners to you, and raise your ranking and popularity, the more opportunities you will have to make money.

There are multiple ways to make money with a podcast, but the four most direct are to promote your own or affiliate products, get paid advertising, get a sponsor or sell a membership to exclusive content.

Promote Products

Your podcast is your platform, and you can choose to promote your own or affiliate products as part of your show.

When deciding to promote, find products that align with the content of your show and integrate them into the discussion or commentary that you are already doing. The transition can be smooth, as you state that you have an affiliate link in the description of the show, or you can do a hard break, and ‘insert’ your own type of advertising.

If you are promoting your own products, especially books and courses, you should be able to clearly connect your content to the content of your podcast (unless they are completely different topics). This actually enhances your authority, and gives your audience more insight into the value you deliver.

You can create your own ads, add music and effects and make it sound like a professional advertisement. But be careful about being too ‘salesy’ or promoting products out of context. You want to provide valuable information to your audience, this includes information about products or services they can use.

But you do not want your show to be just an advertising vehicle, so choose wisely.

State the links in your ad or comment, and put them in the episode description. If your listener is interested they may just click and buy the product.

Paid Advertising

You can also have third party advertisers place ads in your show. For the most part, you have to have minimum audience numbers to attract national brands. But if you are talking about a specific subject, which may be interesting to specialized or local businesses, you can solicit advertising directly from them.

Advertisers are looking to target unique and niche audiences. If you demonstrate how you can deliver ‘ears’ you may be able to attract advertising even if you have a small podcast.

Start by reaching out directly to advertisers you think may be interested. Tell them about your show theme, topic, audience size and frequency. Remember once you commit to delivering a show for an advertiser, you have to deliver the show. So make sure you are comfortable with podcasting as your platform before actively reaching out for ads.

When you have paid ads, you are typically paid upfront, you don’t have to wait for someone to click on the ad. This helps give you some stability and support for your podcast.

Sponsorships

You appeal to sponsors the same way you would reach out to paid advertisers, by telling them how aligning with you would be good for business.

A sponsorship can be for an entire episode, or for the show. Sponsors can request that you read promotional material, or refer to the sponsor in comments, or for a portion of the show.

If you have a video podcasts, sponsors can ask for their product to be displayed behind or beside you, or even on you, if it’s a clothing.

If you have a specialized topic, you may be able to obtain a sponsor to cover your editing, transcribing, hosting and other costs. The only way to find out is to ask.

Memberships

You can also ask your audience.

In recent years, more podcasters are reaching out to their audience to sponsor and financially support the show through paid memberships. The podcasters offer exclusive members only content in exchange for a fixed or open fee.

As a podcaster this will mean providing additional content like the video, snippets, learning guides, exclusive outtakes from interviews, or other material that extends the podcast brand, while building a home for the audience community.

While there can be a lot of extra work in establishing a membership site, it can also be an outstanding opportunity to grow your entire business.

Your podcast community can also become the community that buys your books, courses, products, and services. You can start with membership in a podcast and turn it into membership in your world. And the more you grow your listeners, the more opportunities you have to make money online with a podcast.

What Makes Podcasts Successful?

While the most successful podcasts begin with great content, there are plenty of shows that are able to deliver that initial element. What separates them from the shows that have millions of listeners? A few key factors…

Consistency

When listeners see a show has hundreds, now thousands of episodes, they are more willing to make an investment in the podcaster, because the podcaster has made an investment in them. Consistently posting a show, and building day-to-day or week-to-week gives the listener a sense of security…and FOMO…

If a listener sees the show constantly putting up new episodes, they begin to wonder what they are missing and are more inclined to check and click on the latest information they want.

Specificity

Listeners are searching for people who are speaking about the subjects they care about, and being relevant and interesting in the process. If you can find a topic with a core audience that is currently under-served but available, you will have your successful podcast.

Uniqueness

With three million podcasts, there should be three million unique voices, but far too often podcasters try to copy the work of those that they hear.

The most successful podcasters create a unique voice, one people identify with that person. From the types of questions that are asked, to the shock-value of their commentary, to the revelation style of their facts…these types of speakers have transformed audio programming, and taken the audience along with them.

As you set out to be a podcaster, think about your unique voice, your singular message and your particular style. Be an emergent leader in the space, and promote to those who have been waiting to hear from you.

Podcasting is an extraordinary opportunity for you if you have a message that you want to deliver. There is a spot waiting for you, and you can use podcasting to make money online.

On the Ready Entrepreneur Podcast, I offer information and advice on getting started with an online business, and interviews with outstanding entrepreneurs about their journey, find the show wherever you listen to podcasts:

You can also hear Case Lane interviews on dozens of awesome shows focused on:

Entrepreneurship: https://www.readyentrepreneur.com/podcast-guest-appearances/

Guest Podcasting: https://www.readyentrepreneur.com/podcast-guest-appearances-speaking-about-guest-podcasting/

Awesome Product Offers

If you want to start guest podcasting to promote your product or business, click here to get an extraordinary offer on my Expert’s Guide to Finding Podcasts for An Interview:

If you would like to get the Podcast Directory List of where to post your podcast, click here: https://podcastgueststar.com/podcast-directories-list/

DISCLOSURE: links to Buzzsprout are affiliate links that earn for eligible purchases at no additional cost to you.

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Posted on March 3, 2022 by Case Lane

aspiring entrepreneur, entrepreneur, entrepreneur advice, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, online platform, podcasting, start a business, start an online business, start podcasting, tips for getting started, wantrepreneur tips

What is Guest Podcasting?

Business Success, Knowledge Capital, Marketing, Online Business, Podcast Discoveries, Podcasting, Podcasting for Guests, PREPARATION, Strategies for Aspiring Entrepreneurs, Strategies for New Entrepreneurs, SUCCESS, Tips for Aspiring Entrepreneurs, Tips for New Entrepreneurs

In a Mexican telenovela, aka a television soap opera, you can occasionally see that when a major movie star or esteemed talent or famous personality decides to make a guest appearance, the credits will say something like…

…we welcome to television, the great…- name of person-…

Or if it’s a former star who has not done TV for awhile…then the credits will acknowledge…

…we welcome back to television – name of person – …

The guest star is elevated to a kind of reverential position – a proud, open armed moment of mutual accomplishment and acclaim.

And the terms ‘Guest Star’ or ‘Guest Starring’ or even better ‘Special Guest Star’ or ‘Special Guest Appearance by’ are all used regularly, especially by Hollywood productions, to signal to viewers that someone has joined the cast temporarily to bring new interest and life to the show.

The guest star is a welcome visitor in a mutually beneficial position for the host and guest.

If you guest podcast, that is the role you will play.

The Guest Star Role

Guest podcasting is appearing on a podcast for an interview or conversations, or sometimes to teach, entertain or provide commentary or analysis. The guest’s role is to add value to the show by providing new insights outside of the normal routine and intentions.

Anyone with valuable communication to share should consider guest podcasting. There are now nearly two million podcasts, many with conversations covering almost every topic imaginable.

While established public speakers or subject matter experts may be the first to think of the podcast stage as an opportunity to spread their message, aspiring entrepreneurs should not overlook the possibility of building an audience and testing ideas in a public space.

The Opportunity for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

As an aspiring entrepreneur, if you have a business idea, then you likely recognized a problem that needs to be solved, and you have a solution. Since you are planning on building a business, you are going to need to inform your potential customers of your proposed solution.

Guest podcasting is one of the best ways to raise your visibility. From the podcast stage, you can grow your audience, expand your authority and influence, promote your product or service, enhance your brand or marketing…or any of several other benefits.

*Ready to Start Talking and Sharing Your Message?*

You may not immediately know what your impact will be, but if your audience begins to grow after you start guest podcasting, you will receive feedback that determines how influential you have been.

Collaborate With the Podcast Host

Guest podcasting is a two-way street…always. You provide value to the audience, and some of them may follow up with you, or look for your products. Therefore when requesting an interview, potential guests should focus on the content and value they offer.

In a 15, 30 or 60 minute segment, your product or service is secondary to delivering on the outcomes the audience is seeking. You have to know what the audience is expecting to hear, and why they are listening to that specific podcast.

When you set out to guest podcast, do your homework. Research the podcast you are pitching for an interview, and make sure you know the kinds of topics that are covered by the host. You do not want to repeat a topic that was already covered on the show. You want to demonstrate why your work is different.

Guest podcasting means finding those differentiators so that you can engage in a more fulfilling conversation with your host. And your appearance may extend beyond the interview, by leading to other opportunities, collaborations, or projects with your new growing network of podcast friends.

The D-I-Y Process for Finding Podcasts That Fit Your Subject

You can decide how to use guest podcasting as part of your business strategy, by looking for podcasts that are a relevant fit for your topic, confirming that you might be a good guest, and reaching out to the podcaster to request an interview.

You can also become a successful podcast guest without hiring an agency, connecting with influencers, or networking, by following this Do-It-Yourself process that uses the podcast directories to find relevant shows.

Select Keywords

After deciding on the topics you want to cover on the show, select keywords that reflect your subject area, and related topics.

For example, if you’re an expert on tulips – select keywords like flowers, gardening, fragrance, outdoor activity, and so on. Be as broad as possible because different podcasts will use different words to talk about similar subjects.

Search for Podcast Names

To find potential shows, search for podcast names in the podcast directories. The directories are online databases where podcasts are listed. Directories include the podcast apps like Apple or Spotify, as well as websites that provide podcast information.

The best directories for search are those that return sufficient information on initial search – that is after entering a keyword in the search bar – that allow you to make a decision about whether to continue researching the show.

Looking at hundreds of podcasts in directories can be time consuming. But if you do the work yourself, or outsource the work to someone who reports to you, you give yourself an opportunity to find more shows than an agency typically delivers.

You also connect directly to the podcaster, increasing your chances for follow-up or additional collaboration. Podcasters often report receiving pitches that do not fit their show, if you do the work yourself, you improve your chance of making a good impression based on the research you have conducted.

Read Relevant Details

When searching in the directories, check the last episode upload date. Many shows are no longer active, and as an interviewee, you only want to spend time researching active shows that are conducting interviews.

If the show is active, read the description. Show descriptions vary from a few lines to multiple paragraphs. But if the information looks promising, check the show page for more details.

On the show page, read episode descriptions to verify that the show has interview episodes. Also check the episode duration.

When researching the show details, take some time to listen to a few episodes to learn how information is presented, and how the host likes to manage the show.

Find Contact Information

Once you have covered all the research points, if you are still interested, begin searching for contact information for the host or show. Some show pages provide links to the website or an email.

Check the Show or Host Website

Always look at the show or host website to see if there is a podcast guest interview submission process that you should follow.

If there is a specific process, this indicates the show is open to interviews. If there is no form to complete, you can still look for an email address or contact page on the website.

Many shows, especially the most popular, have no contact information. You can try to reach out on social media, or through their other previous guests.

But remember there are thousands of shows to consider, so if contact information remains elusive, move on to the next show.

Send Your Pitch

Once all the above points have led you to a relevant podcast, send your pitch and wait to hear. Many podcasters receive hundreds of pitches, and will not respond to every email. But if you think a show is absolutely perfect, you can probably follow up after around 3 to 6 months.

Seize the Opportunity Now

Guest podcasting is one of the most important activities you can do to get your work in front of new audiences. And you can find podcasts on your own, by reaching out to podcasters to create your own network of podcasting opportunities.

Summary

Guest podcasting is appearing on a podcast show – to add value to that show’s audience.
A guest podcast appearance is typically for an interview, but you can also have a conversation, teach, entertain or give analysis on your subject.
Prepare your message. You must have something to say, and be willing to work with the podcast host to make a great show.
Utilize the asset. You can promote your appearance to your audience as an example of your expertise, and to those who are interested in your work, as an example of what you do
Find relevant shows for guest podcasting by doing your own search
- Create a list of keywords that match your subject
- Use the podcast directories to look for shows that match your keywords
- Check the last episode upload date – to make sure you only research active shows
- Go to the show page and check the episode descriptions and duration
- Look for links to the website or email to find the host or show contact information.
- Research the show by looking at the show or host website, listening to at least one or two episodes, and confirming that your topic would be valuable to the audience
- Send your pitch and get ready to enjoy the benefits of guest podcasting

For more information: Listen to the Podcast Discovery series of the Ready Entrepreneur podcast, episodes 92 to 97 that was posted in late September through October 2020.

Click the show graphic to go to Episode 92 for the Podcast Discovery Series Introduction on Apple Podcasts

If you want to get started with guest podcasting, go to podcastgueststar.com/blueprint, to get your copy of my comprehensive guide to finding, researching and contacting podcasts for an interview.

Posted on February 27, 2021 by Case Lane

aspiring entrepreneur, authority, become a podcast guest, branding, guest podcasting, influence, marketing, podcast education, podcast guest, podcast industry, podcasting

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: