How to Get Booked as a Podcast Guest

In this episode, we share three practical ways to get booked as a podcast guest without blasting generic emails to hundreds of podcast hosts. We focus on choosing the right shows, pitching with clarity, and using tools that make the process faster while still staying personal.

Resource Mentioned: Podmatch

If you have questions about being a guest on a podcast, reach out to us on the Podcaster Success team by emailing support@buzzsprout.com. 

Keep podcasting!

Transcript

Welcome to Podcasting Q&A

Cara Pacetti 0:00

Welcome to Podcasting Q&A, brought to you by the people at Buzzsprout. I'm your host, Cara Pacetti, and I'm bringing you the best tips and strategies to keep you podcasting with confidence. Since I covered the benefits of guesting on a podcast last week, I wanted to focus today's episode on exactly how to get booked as a podcast guest. Getting booked on a podcast can feel super intimidating, especially if you've never done it before. But the good news is that podcast hosts are always looking for great conversations. So today, I want to walk through three simple ways you can improve your chances of getting invited as a guest on a podcast. Before

Choose shows that fit your message

Cara Pacetti 0:46

sending a single pitch to a podcast host, you're going to need to spend some time identifying what types of podcasts would be a good fit for you. This means you need to do a little self-reflecting. You need to determine what kind of show would be a good fit for not only your experience, but your message. Ask yourself, why do you want to be a guest? Are you hoping to grow your podcast, maybe establish yourself as an expert, promote a project, or you just simply want to share your story? Knowing your goal will help to determine which podcast you should target. And instead of focusing on the biggest podcast, focus on a podcast whose listeners would genuinely benefit from what you have to say. A smaller audience that's interested in your topic is so much more valuable than a large audience that's not. An example here is my experience as a guest on our head of support, Priscilla Brooke's podcast, Happy to Help. So Priscilla's podcast is all about how to offer remarkable customer support. I got invited on this podcast to talk about Podcasting Q&A. Now, while at first glance, it might not seem that my role would be appropriate to her audience, which is talking about a podcast. This podcast is developed from our support team. So I am a part of the podcaster success team, and we are serving our customers in a support role. And so this directly speaks to her audience. And I was able to share my experience using a podcast to support our customers and how her listeners can do that same thing with their businesses. Take a podcast and use it as a support feature for their listeners. So it was an awesome fit and it was an honor to be able to speak and share my own experience to help benefit her audience. That's the kind of thing you want to look for when you're looking for the podcast that you want to be a part of. Think to yourself, what is my message? What am I bringing to the table? And how can I serve this new audience? In order to know whose audience you can serve, you're going to need to do a little bit of homework. Before reaching out to a new podcaster, you want to listen to a few episodes. Are they regularly featuring interviews with guests? You want to pay attention to the host's style and how they format their episodes. Would this be a good fit for you? And you want to think about your experience. Would it fit naturally into one of the conversations that they've already published? Spending five or 10 minutes researching a show can save you from pitching to a podcast that just isn't a good fit. So once you finish with that homework and you found a podcast that's a great match, it's time to introduce yourself.

Write a pitch they can't say no to

Cara Pacetti 3:34

Keep in mind that podcast hosts receive a lot of guest pitches. So you want to try to make your pitch easy to follow and even easier to say yes to. Start by mentioning something specific about the podcast. Maybe you enjoyed a recent episode or you noticed a common theme, or you just really appreciate the host's perspective on something. This really shows that you've done your homework and you're reaching out because you genuinely think that you are a good fit for their show, not just because you're sending the same email to hundreds of podcasts, hoping to guest on the one that says yes. A creative way of writing a pitch that's easy to say yes to is to pitch an episode, not just yourself. Give the host two or three specific episode ideas that they can immediately picture as being a part of their show. Take the time to explain how each topic would benefit their audience. Hosts are looking for conversations that serve their listeners, not a resume. When you paint a picture for them, it makes it really easy to see the vision behind your pitch. One way of making sure that your pitch is standing out above the rest is to include all of the details that your hosts will need to know about you. So you want to keep your email short, but you also need to include some valuable information all in one place. So some of the details we recommend are to include a short bio. So just a sentence or two explaining who you are and why you should be a guest on their show. You want to include a piece of credibility like a previous interview or a relevant experience. And if you can link to it, that's even better. You also want to let them know you're flexible when it comes to scheduling and how to book you as a guest. Again, as a bonus, link a Calendly link to make it really easy to book that recording. The easier you make it for the host to respond can really increase the likelihood of you not only getting a response, but also getting booked for their podcast. So as I've outlined some of these steps, you can probably already tell that finding and pitching podcasts one by one does take some time. I

Use PodMatch to streamline your process

Cara Pacetti 5:44

want to make sure I also leave you with a more automated, maybe efficient option for this process, if that's what you're looking for. So I want to share a platform with you called PodMatch. PodMatch is a platform specifically designed to easily match podcast hosts with potential guests. I'm gonna link to this platform in the show notes below. So if you want to go read more about it and check it out, then you can find that there. But I do want to go through the quick steps that it takes to sign up for PodMatch and also get matched with a guest for your podcast. So first you'll need to create a complete podmatch profile for you as a guest. Think of your podmatch profile as your first impression. So you'll design your profile in the same way that you would write a pitch. You can add a professional photo, a clear short bio, include your areas of expertise, and the topics you're most qualified to discuss. The more complete your profile is, the easier it is for hosts to determine that you're a good fit for their audience. So once your profile is live, PodMatch recommends podcast matches to you based on the information you've included in your profile. Instead of searching endlessly for shows, you can review your matches daily and you can focus on researching podcasts that already align with your expertise and interests. This makes it really easy because you can see all of those matches in one place and you can easily reach out to those podcasts directly on this platform. So when you find a podcast you'd like to be on and you've taken the time to research it, the next step is to take a few moments to write a personalized message explaining why you're excited about their show, what value you can bring, and which topics would make for a great conversation. So once you find a podcast that you'd like to be a part of, you have the opportunity through this platform to reach out to the podcaster directly. I recommend including those same details that we mentioned when it comes to writing a pitch. You're gonna share why you're excited about their show, what value you can bring, and what topics would make for a great conversation. Making it personal can really go a long way for podcasters who are receiving a lot of guest interest. Using a platform like PodMatch won't always guarantee that you're gonna get booked on every podcast that you apply for. You'll still need to apply and connect with the host and filter out the matches to make sure that you're finding the right podcast for you. But one benefit of using PodMatch is that all of these podcast hosts are looking for guests and they're all showing up in one convenient place. So you're not having to search all of the podcast directories based on categories and figuring out how to reach out to them. You can find them, you will be matched with them, and you can reach out to them on that same platform. Getting booked on a podcast isn't about sending hundreds of emails and hoping someone responds. It's about finding the right shows, making it easy for hosts to see the value you bring and showing up prepared to create a great conversation. The more intentional you are before and during each interview, the more opportunities you'll create for yourself in the future. If you have questions you'd like answered on a future Podcasting Q&A episode, just click the send us fan mail link in the show notes. If you have questions about being a guest on a podcast, just reach out to us directly on the Podcaster Success team by emailing support at buzzsprout.com. Be sure to join us every Monday to kickstart your week. Thank you so much for listening. And as always, keep podcasting.