Podcasting Q&A

How to land great podcast guests

December 14, 2020 Buzzsprout
Podcasting Q&A
How to land great podcast guests
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

Asett from Free Thought Revolution asks, "How do I find great guests to have on my podcast?"

TL;DR
One of the most important elements of a great interview podcast is landing great guests. But what's the best process for finding and pitching prospective guests to come on your show?

In this episode, we'll explain how to identify good guests and the most effective way to pitch them to do an interview for your podcast.

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Gilon:

In today's episode, you'll learn how to find the best guests for your podcast. Welcome to Podcasting Q&A, where you learn the best tips and strategies to launch grow and monetize your show. This week's question comes from Asett

Asett:

Hi Buzzsprout. This is sett from Free Thought revolutio.com. I'm wondering, what's the best way to go about finding guest speakers for our podcast? What do we include when we email them? And how do we find a good match for us? Thank you so much.

Gilon:

Thank you for your question Asett. so finding the right people to be guests on your podcast is kind of the meaning of an art and a science. So in this episode, we're going to discuss how and where to find those people, and then what to do once you found them. Tip number one, create a list of potential podcast guests. So you want to think about what your podcast specialty is, if you've got a podcast about gardening, think about who are the thought leaders when it comes to gardening who is writing articles about it, who's got a podcast about gardening already, think about what you enjoy? Who would you like to bring on because if you're a fan of that person, then they're likely going to be an awesome guest to have on your podcast, and your audience would enjoy them too. So create a list of potential podcast guests. Tip number two, do some research. So take that list that you just made of potential guests and go through it, check them out, see if they've been on a podcast before and listen to that episode, do they have any online content, read those things, watch those videos, see if any of their past work resonates with you. Something else that I really like to do as part of the research process is do sort of like a pre interview call. So if I have access to the person, their contact, they're interested, I'll set up a call 45 minutes, maybe to an hour, where I'm kind of getting their perspective on the topic as well as sort of thing if we have chemistry as we're talking. Because the idea is if we can do this pre interview call, and you get a sense for where they stand on certain things. And if there's any chemistry between you and the potential guests, then you don't waste time hitting record and having a dud of an interview wasting your time as well as there's so if you do a little bit of research on the front end, you can save yourself a lot of time and heartache on the back end. So you've made your list, you've researched, you figured out this person would be perfect for your podcast. And now you want to pitch the idea of being a guest on your podcast to them. Right? So we're gonna send them an email, what are we going to say in this email, we're going to first identify ourselves and our podcast. Hi, I'm so and so. And I have a podcast about X, Y and Z. From there, you want to compliment a work of theirs that you actually appreciate, right? Hey, I love seeing you on so and so's video. It was so great to hear you on X, Y and Z podcast just to show that you've done your research and that you're an actual fan of their work. From there. You want to then pitch them So hey, we would love to have you on our podcast to talk about x y&z the specific topic right, something that you know that they would be amazing at and that your audience would love to hear them talk about. From there, you want to provide the logistics, all the details so that they don't have to think about anything? How are we recording? How long are we recording? Do you get a headshot? Are you going to push their social platforms to your audience? Are you going to provide interview questions ahead of time or not? You want them to see this email? And it'd be an easy Yes, because you've laid everything out for them. You've already done your research, they can tell you a real fan and they can tell that you would really appreciate having their perspective on your podcast. You want this to be the easiest yes they've ever said. So you just close it out with the thank you and then the ball is in their court. So as a follow up piece of advice, if you send that email, it's amazing. You know you hit it out of the park, but you don't hear back. Don't be disheartened. Don't be discouraged. Send a follow up a follow up email is completely appropriate. Sometimes people get busy emails Get lost. They send a phantom response in their head but never sent it through their hands. It happens so be okay with sending up a follow up. Hey, just want to check in Did you see my email? We're still really interested in you being a guest be persistent. Persistence pays off. Thanks so much for sending us your question Asett. If you have a question that you would like us to answer in a future episode of the podcast, just go to speakpipe.com/Buzzsprout or click the link in the show notes and leave us a brief audio message. Make sure that you subscribe to the Buzzsprout YouTube channel to watch future episodes of Podcasting Q&A or subscribe to the show on your favorite podcasting app. That's it for today. Thanks for listening and as always keep podcasting

Intro
"How do I find podcast guests?"
1. Make a list
2. Do some research
3. How to pitch
4. What if they don't reply?