Got a podcast?
Hosting a podcast isn’t everyone’s idea of a good time.
A good time would be sipping an adult beverage (or aged Sumatra, depending on the time of day), while someone else does all the legwork of…
- finding guests,
- vetting them to ensure they can speak in whole sentences
- scheduling them then reminding them they are scheduled
- editing the audio
- and the transcripts,
- creating the social media posts,
- writing thank you notes to the guests,
- and pitching other hosts so you can get exposure for your podcast.
#somuchwork
But podcasting is bigly big.
Edison Research recently released a report on podcast stats. As of early 2021, there are over 1,750,000 podcasts and over 43 million episodes.
Not every show is interview style, but even if only 15% need guests, that’s a boat load of hosts who needs guests on a regular basis. And being a guest on the right podcasts with even a small but committed audience can mean instant know, like, and trust for you and your business.
The sound of your voice and your personality in someone’s ear are more personal and powerful for connection than those same words read in a blog post.
So, who wants to be a millionaire podcast guest?
The world, (and his wife,) also answered “yes.”
And according to the most popular podcast hosts, 95% of those people don’t stand a chance of getting booked.
Why?
#notsure
Sending a verbal selfie, you know lots of Is and Mes — hoping to get the attention of a busy host is not going to cut it.
There are three ways to go about getting booked. All require time and brand work before you start the pitch-fest. Some will cost you boogie bucks as well.
They are:
- Sign on with an agency who will do the legwork for you once you’ve given them a clear understanding of your ideal client, your expertise, what you offer, what your goals are for being a podcast guest. $$$$
- Join an online podcast guest and host platform where the expectation is to find people to interview and find podcasts to pitch. Free to $$
- Learn how to pitch yourself. Less $ but lots of time. And time is money…
Podcast guest agencies like PodcastBookers.com, says they are “Rated #1 Best Podcast Booking Agency for 2020! We Deliver More SEO & Lead Generation Power Than Any Other Podcast Guesting Service. Period.”
Thomas Martin, former Federal Agent, disagrees.
Martin is now a PI, private investigator. He uses his extensive skills at getting the kind of information he wants, in all sorts of situations. In this case, it was finding the best podcast agency for his business.
In this article, A Deep Dive Investigation of Podcast Booking Agencies, you’ll find out why he disagrees. He also shares his experiences with various agencies, questions to ask before you sign on with one and pitfalls to avoid.
Lucky for those of us who don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars per episode to get booked on the right podcasts, there are options.
The following sites act like speaker bureaus or agencies for both podcast guests hosts. All but one in the following list offer both free and paid options.
Search terms are limited, which means scrolling through broad catch-all categories like “Health and Wellness.” Subcategories like “men’s or women’s health” are not available, nor are filters like “weight loss” or “Stress reduction.”
This adds time to the process of searching for the perfect guest or podcast. On the flip side, I’ve had some great guests for my Rebellious Wellness Over 50 podcast, whom I might never have discovered if not for these sites.
This is not a comprehensive list, and I did not include any I think are not worth your time, and obviously I will have missed some that warrant a look-see, so send them along if you have them.
- Matchmaker.fm Hundreds of free listings of podcasts and those looking to be found as guests. Free or $49/year.
- Podbooker.com Free or $299/year. That figure buys you more connections on either side of the mic.
- PodcastGuests.com Free to list your podcast on their site and eventually it will be featured in their weekly email. (This could take a couple of months)If you want to be a guest there are two tiers, Basic, $15/month or $39/month. ($10 and $29 if you pay for the year) Both include a speaker’s one sheet on their site, links to your online sites, and more. The higher level gives you that and more ways to be found, more links for your profile.
- Podmatch.com does some of the work for you by matching you up with relevant podcasts or guests using AI. Your podcast must have 12 episodes or more before you are eligible to be listed.
These sites make it easy, too easy this podcast host would say, to find podcasts who serve your audience so you can pitch them on why you. And that’s the topic for the second episode if you will, of the podcast series; finding and being found.
Whether you are pitching within a site or cold to a host you follow, there is etiquette and strategy involved in getting to yes.
Stay tuned.