Podcasting has definitely seen a huge surge during the pandemic. A lot of people think you have to have a podcast, get into podcasting but you know what? To be honest, having your own show is a lot of work. If you are just a solopreneur, you have your own business and you’re trying to get yourself out there more and you don’t have a large team with you. Podcasting can get a little overwhelming. It’s like having another full-time job. You are already running your own business, and now you’re also running a podcast business. It seems that way at least, but in order for you to leverage the platform of podcasting, you don’t have to have your own show. It’s definitely more fun but here is how you can also leverage the podcasting space by being a guest. 

In my last episode, number 38 with Megan Hamilton, we talked about how she really loves that human-to-human connection that she creates by being a host of her own show, but also as a guest on other people’s podcasts. So if you haven’t listened to that episode yet, go back to the previous one. Number 38 – How Human Connection is Nurtured Through Your Voice and Podcasting with Megan Hamilton. Okay, when you’re done with that, come back to here. Now, you can continue listening, right? You finished that last episode. All right. 

Grow Your Authority

So, by being a guest on other people’s podcasts I have seen, from my clients’ work and myself included, because I love guesting on other people’s shows as well, I’ve been able to see how guesting on other people’s shows can grow your authority and credibility. One of the things I love personally about being a guest on other people’s podcasts is that you are essentially creating your own publicity platform. When you are on another person’s podcast, you are essentially getting free publicity. Okay. There are some podcasts that will ask for you to pay to be on their show. That’s a bit of a red flag for me unless you really want to be on that show and it’s a small fee then okay, maybe. But most of the time being a guest on another show typically means it’s a one-on-one interview. It’s usually free, so free publicity of what I’m talking about. And you’re answering the host questions or you’re just having a conversation about your niche or topic or about your life. There’s usually a point to why you were asked to be on the show. Usually, that’s because the host wants to know about your opinions, your insights, and your perspective to share with their audience. So you’re there to provide this education or knowledge, or to have this shared experience so that their listeners can really relate to you and what you do. And of course, when you’re a guest, you’re also going to be naturally entertaining. It’s not about being a stand-up comedian. Oh my gosh. When people hear, Oh, I have to entertain? What? The introvert in you might be like shrinking and shuddering at this point, but no, you’re not going to be like on stage, behind mic, and doing the spotlight comedian thing. No, when you’re entertaining, it’s about the stories that you will tell. Your stories are what sets you apart. We’ll get more into that later. When you are a guest on someone’s podcast, you are also leveraging their audience, exposing your awesomeness to a whole new audience. And if the podcast host does their work behind the scenes, it’ll be great SEO for you. They will link from their website to your website, and Google loves that. So you will show up on Google as a guest on other people’s podcasts. So not only are you leveraging this publicity, but you are leveraging search engine optimization as well. So that’s another great reason to be on other people’s podcasts. And the plus side is if you have your own podcast too, you are being everywhere on the podcast ecosystem, bringing in more listeners to your own show because they’ll be interested in what you are doing when you are a guest on someone else’s podcast. They’ll want to find out more about you and you can easily say, Hey, come listen to my show. I’ve got one too. It’s a great place to do that because you already have an engaged listener through the same medium. What I mean by that is you’re already telling podcast listeners to listen to podcasts. It’s usually more difficult to convert a non-podcast listener to listen to your show because there’s education involved and some people don’t have a familiarity with podcasting. So it’s a level of friction that they don’t want to go above and beyond to figure out how do I listen to a podcast? You know, I have had people say to me, Oh, podcasting, I’ve heard of that. Tell me what time it’s on, and then I’ll take a listen. Like, no, that’s not how podcasting works. So there are some steps and hoops that you have to go through when you’re talking to a non-podcast listener, but as a guest on another person’s podcast, you’re already talking to podcast listeners. So that layer of friction is automatically removed and they are more likely to listen.

But if you don’t have your own podcast, that’s okay too. Be a guest. By being a guest, you can dip your toe into the podcasting space. You don’t have to create lots of new content and the workflows and everything that goes on behind the scenes on creating your own show and managing your podcast. So, be a guest. It’s a great way to figure out if podcasting and hosting your own show is really for you. So essentially there are three different ways to be a guest. One, you ask a podcast to be on their show. You make that pitch. Two, a podcast show asks you to be a guest, so you’re invited onto their show. Or the third way, a connection through a third-party platform. But let’s tackle the first way first. 

1 – Pitch Yourself to Be a Guest

This one usually takes the most amount of work. I’m going to be honest with you right there, right off the top. It takes a lot of work for pitching. To do it well, that is. And to get you the best return on your investment on this time because you were targeting the best shows to be on, not any show, but figuring out which one really will be working to your advantage. And then from there, having the right pitch goes a long, long way. So you’re probably asking, So how do I find the right show to be on? What… How does that happen? Well, figure out shows that are similar to what you want to talk about. Is this show relevant to your own target audience? Do they already speak to your ideal listener? Or are their listeners aligned in some way with what you do, so that when you be a guest on their show, that they’ll be so drawn in with your content that they want to connect further with you? So the number one thing is to do your research on the show’s audience. Know their ideal listener so you can gauge if this is a good fit. So if you’re in the health and wellness space, there are tons of health and wellness podcasts. You’ll just have to go through which ones you like, listen to them, make sure that you have an idea of what their ideal listener might be. And to make sure, too, that they have guests on their show. I have been pitched many, many times before I started having guests on my show, and it really, really annoyed me. Clearly, you didn’t listen to my show and you’re spamming my inbox, so I click ‘Delete’ right away. You’ll be wasting your time if you don’t do the research first to figure out if they even have guests on their show. After narrowing down which shows you want to be on, that align with the values and what you talk about and your niche, it’s time to make your pitch. And this is what I was alluding to earlier. This pitch, the email that you’ll be sending, has to be engaging and beneficial to the host. Remember, this is the step where you are showcasing to the host that you are going to make their job easier for them. Because what this pitch will really entail is the fact that you have something to say that is of value to the host’s listeners, that you want the host to say, Yeah, you are an easy ‘yes’ for coming on my show. So as part of that research, I was saying, listen to the show before you make the pitch and figure out what you liked best about the show and what you think their audience will get out of your content, your knowledge and your value. Essentially, why would you be a great fit for their audience? What are you going to bring to the table? Show your value and I guarantee they will have you on. Your email pitch can be a simple template that you switch up with each email but making sure that you listen to the episodes first. You don’t have to listen to everything but listen to some key points. And then in that pitch, in your email, tell them what you liked, why you loved it, and then the top three or five reasons why you should come on, basically you’re talking points. And then, of course, letting them know how to book that time with you. There’s a lot more about making your pitch that I can get into, but that is essentially the overarching blueprint framework that you want to do. So maybe you start with this, you know, pitching to shows, asking to be on another person’s podcast, and now you’ve got a few shows under your belt, so, woohoo! You’re being noticed.

2 – How to Be a Guest on a Podcast

And at this point, we’re on number two on how to be a guest on a podcast. Podcasters are hearing your voice and now they want to invite you onto their show. First things first, don’t say ‘yes’ to all the shows that ask you to come on board. Much like the research on other people’s shows, you want to do the same thing here too. Research the show, figure out if they are going to align with your ideal listener, and if you will bring value to their audience. Maybe at this point, you can ask the host questions about the show and you can check out their website and listen to an episode or two. And at this point, since they’re asking you, part of that research, instead of going to listen right away, you can ask the host themselves. Figure out who is their ideal listener, so you can gauge if this will be a good fit with what you’re doing. And personally, for my part of the research, how the show sounds is very important for me because my whole niche is podcasting. That’s my space. I have a radio background, and so audio quality is very, very important to me. So if a podcaster invites me to their show and I listen and their sound quality is pretty poor, I’m going to safely assume that listenership is not strong on that show, because if they’re not investing in their sound quality, listeners are not investing into their show and not sticking around. The sound quality will represent who you are. And since audio is what I do, I’m all about sound quality, and using a podcast as an extension of my brand, I will only be on shows that have a sound quality up to the level of my standards. And of course, you know, there are some tech issues sometimes, but basically what I mean by sound quality is that there’s no distractions happening all the time. A window isn’t open. Dogs aren’t barking. Leaf blowers aren’t blowing in the background. Just making sure that when you listen to the podcast, it’s not hard to hear, meaning you’re not straining to hear the show and you can hear the host’s voice clearly. So for part of your research, what do you value when you listen to a show that you potentially can be a guest on? See if your values line up with theirs. Now, this leads me to your stories, figuring out what are your talking points. Although you can have a big list to draw from to try and land a larger range of shows, it’s always best to niche down so that you really become the authority on those talking points. However, you can branch out a little bit as long as they still align with your main talking points. 

Personally, for me, I don’t always talk about podcasting or voice when I am on someone else’s podcast, but I will always bring it back to that when I am a guest. But one of my values is to be diverse and inclusive and so I do talk a bit about my Chinese heritage, being born in Vancouver to immigrant parents from China and Hong Kong. How does that affect the podcasting space or my voice coaching that I do? So one of my clients, Dorinda Wong of the podcast, Let’s Have This Conversation, she actually asked me to be a guest on her show to share my experience of growing up in Vancouver as a second-generation Chinese-Canadian. So how did that tie into podcasting and voice? Well, we talked about the barriers I faced and how that led me to my radio career and now podcasting, which is outside of the typical Chinese-American career path. You know, I’m not being a doctor. I’m not being a lawyer, not a chiropractor, you know, all the things that my parents probably wanted me to do. An accountant, things like that. But I landed in the creative field and anything in the creative field might be thought of as not financially stable and so, not always the most stable career choice for parents to worry about you all the time. But through knowing my talking points, I knew how to transition this story about how I grew up into how my career changed and what the path looked like to me to where I am today. I was able to tie into the show’s audience of second-generation and Chinese-Americans and my lived experience of what I did to do something outside of the norm, which means using my voice and doing something that a Chinese daughter shouldn’t be doing. It was fun to share that experience and to tie it into what I do. So if you have someone ask you to be on their show, don’t say ‘no’ right off the bat. You can always say, Yes, let me think about it. And then figure out how does this show tie into what I do?

3 – Be a Guest Using Third-Party Services

Now, the last way to be a guest is using third-party services. So these can be online algorithms that match you with other podcast hosts. There could be newsletter call-outs, emails, databases, or online networks and communities. Sometimes there is a small fee, though, some are free, so you’ll just have to look into those details. One that I do use from time to time is podmatch.com. But you do have to do a lot of sifting to find the right fit. You get a lot of matches, which is great but figuring out, okay, do these matches line up with my values and my ideal listener? Podcastguests.com is another one. I’m on their list, but honestly, it comes into my inbox and it gets buried. So I really haven’t had the chance to utilize that at all. Another one that I haven’t used, but I’ve been told about this one time and time again recently, so they must be gaining steam in the podcasting space is called the podcastcollaborative.com. So I thought I’d mention it here just as an alternative. You can check it out. The last one that I’ll mention is Podchaser Connect. It would be another good one to look into because the database is huge. I’m diving more into this one right now just to see what it’s like as an alternative to what I’m doing and to help people like you as well to be a guest. So I can’t make any promises right now, but I do use their main platform, podchaser.com. I use it for their database and to catalogue guest spots and my podcasting work. They treat it like the IMDB of podcasting, so it’s a legit place to be. But using these third-party platforms, it still takes a lot of work for you to go through all the lists or matches that they provide. So it’s not like you don’t have to lift a finger on this, but as I said before, you still have to do your research and don’t say yes to every ask, even if you’re just starting out. So you want to use your time wisely.

An alternative to these third-party apps would be having a bigger investment where you have a dedicated person to book you on shows much like having your own publicist. There could be a monthly fee with different tiers based on how many shows they’ll pitch you to per month, or how much of the booking process you want to do yourself or hand off to someone else. Whatever you choose, a dedicated person to book you on other podcasts should be targeting shows that fits your area of expertise and pitching to more well-established shows. So the other third-party apps, they might not be more well-established, they could be new shows, they could be hobby shows that might not fit into your area of expertise. So having a dedicated person can figure all of this out for you and sift through all of those shows. It is a real investment, though, for your marketing dollars, but it is worth it if you have the resources to spend on generating leads and building your brand.

A recommendation I will have for you here is Podcast Ally. They are usually the one I recommend, although I haven’t used them myself except for taking some of their webinars that they’ve had. They’ve been around for a while and I really jive with their values. So if you’re ready to make that investment, Podcast Ally could be your source for a booking agent. So those are essentially the three ways to land a podcast and guest spot but doesn’t matter how you land a guest spot, you still always have to be prepared. 

Have Your Media Kit Ready

Make sure that you have a media kit. This is usually a one or two-pager of who you are, your talking points, and what you’re all about. So it could include stats like how many followers if you have a community who are there and links to other shows you’ve been on. As a podcast host, I need to care about who you are and what you value before I bring you onto my show. So include things that you think will be valuable to a podcaster and what you can speak to. Another great thing to have is a link for podcasters to swipe your bio, get some headshots of you, links to all your social media, and all that good stuff. It could be as simple as a folder on Google Drive. In that drive, you can add your media kit, but you can also include your photos and maybe a document, a Google doc with all the links to your website, your social media, or any call-to-actions that you’ll have. But the best and most professional way would be to have a media kit page on your own website. It’s so easy for podcasters to drop onto your website and get the info they need all in one place so they’re not sifting through their email for all the stuff. But while they’re there, they’ll also find out more about you because they’re already on your website, so they might look into you more to figure out what types of questions they want to ask. So it’s an easy one for you because you send them to one link that has all the resources already and so it’s simple for everyone. And once you’ve made this commitment to be on their show, have it in your calendar to make sure you get that confirmation. 

Know The Podcaster’s Needs

And then from there, double-check what their needs are. Every show will have a different process, so that means: how it’s recorded, will it be on Zoom, will you be on another link for you to use like maybe Zencastr or Riverside or Squadcast? Will they use the video for anything or is this strictly audio? Figure out what their needs are and be ready for that. And then, day of, be ready for tech, make sure that the tech is set up. And if they do want to use video, make sure you have good lighting, your hair is done, you know, combed at least, that’s usually my issue. Some nice clothes. Your background is set up so that if they record the video and use it for social media or whatnot, you’ll be best representative of your brand. And, of course, be ready with your voice. Yeah, a little bit of a warm-up perhaps. Make sure that you stretch your body. Maybe you stretch out your mouth to do a couple of tongue twisters beforehand and making sure that you’re just drinking warm temperature water, too. No coffee, no milk that can create some bad mouth noises. So you don’t want any of that stuff. So it’s not just about the technical aspects, but everything all-encompassing using your voice.

And when the interview is done, share it with your community. Not every show will force you, and I don’t know how they could really force you to share or talk about the episode anyway, but you’ve already done all this work so share it. Let people know, again, free publicity, that you were on another podcast. You’re giving away great content, great value, and people will learn from you and get to know who you are, and want to work with you in the future. Plus, podcasters will love you for this and will recommend you as a guest for other shows because you are active in their community by sharing their content. And listen back to the episode too. I know a lot of people say, I do all these shows. I don’t listen to anything. I can’t listen to myself. Oh no. But no, no, no. Listen back to critique, not to judge. Go back to my episode about critiquing, Not Being a Critic, and listen for what needs to be tweaked. Hear how your talking points landed. Could you use different wording? What about your audio quality? Where you recorded that episode, was that a good recording space? Were the talking points in relation to the podcast theme, the show that you were on? So remember, listen as a friend to critique, not for self-judgement. Podcasting is a journey and being a guest has a learning curve as well. So be kind to yourself, dive in and be gentle.

So there you go. A quick rundown on how to be a podcast guest. But if you’ve already been a guest on a couple of podcasts, great! Let me know how being a guest on a podcast has done for you so far. What have you seen in terms of your own growth of your own show, your brand, what has being a podcast guest done for you? Or if you have other tips you’d like to share, if you’ve been a guest before, I would love to hear it. You can leave me some feedback with the “Send Voicemail” button or drop me an email visiblevoicepodcast@gmail.com. So go, dive in, be a guest, and have a wicked time and a fun time doing it.