How to Be a Podcast Guest: 3 Ways to Get Booked On a Podcast
If you are wanting to know how to be a podcast guest and get booked on a podcast, then you have probably tried a lot of cold pitching and cold outreach. (If you want to know how to make those cold emails suck less, then check this out)
However, aside from just simply becoming famous and well-known, there are truly only 3 rock-solid ways to be a podcast guest: make the change, be the change, or love the change. (I know, it’s a bit of a hokey way to help you remember this article, but bear with me)
Make the Change: Be an Innovator
Whether you are a business owner, agency, or even an author, your content is surely innovative in some way.
This is classic marketing. Your work needs to stand out from the rest of the crowd. If it doesn’t…
…well then…
Your product/service kinda sucks, right?
So think about what makes your work different from anything else that might be similar?
DSM Story Forge, for example, is all about being conversational, human, and impactful. We aren’t the greatest content publisher out there…neither in books nor in copywriting.
However, we do try to separate ourselves from everyone out there creating for the sake of the almighty dollar. We create because what we create is important.
By making that known, we make it clear how we are set apart.
If you want to know how to be a podcast guest, then you need to be an innovator in your field. You need to be on the cutting edge of making the changes in your particular field or industry. Get recognized for that, and it becomes a lot easier to be a podcast guest.
Your innovation adds to the authority of the podcast host because they have you as an Expert for that particular topic. So it goes both ways!
Be the Change: Be a Partner On Their Journey
Podcast hosts need to build credibility and ethos with their audience, just like a publisher or marketing team.
Find brands, creators, agencies, etc. that support the same or similar things that you do and be a part of their journey.
Genuinely, be kind and be human by simply reaching out, encouraging brands and people you align with, and bring up the areas of overlapping interest.
Another example from DSM Story Forge, there have been multiple people I have connected with from various walks of life and industries…but the ones that have some similar passion to the way they go about their business are the ones I love connecting with over and over again.
I have had the great privilege to connect with Inkling Creative Strategies several times over. Kori is a great person with many things in common. So I love being able to support, encourage, and collaborate with her every chance I get!
If you want to be a podcast guest, then you need to be along for the ride and supporting/encouraging the areas where you overlap. Their audience wants to hear from people on similar journeys, even if the businesses or the areas of interest are wildly different!
Think of your favorite podcast guests…I’ll bet that several of them weren’t even necessarily in the same field as the host, but they had great synergy and you could feel their connection on important topics.
Wanna get booked on a podcast? Then you need to be journeying with people along the way and be the change alongside other like-minded people and brands.
Love the Change: Be the Most Supportive Customer
Everyone loves a good ego-stroking.
If you just be a customer, a fan, and an encourager for a podcast/podcast host of your choosing, then you probably already know how to be a podcast guest.
If you are a superfan of their product or service, then they are far more likely to bring you along and get you booked as a podcast guest just to be able to share your experience.
There isn’t much else to say about this one except…
A Real Life Example of How I Got to Be a Podcast Guest
Ooooh!
I have a personal example for this last one!
I had been a listener of The 42 Podcast with Rob and Lindsey for a long time. Rob and I were in a Youth Pastor Facebook Group where he shared a link to his podcast and I listened from the sidelines.
Then, one day, I decided to reach out. I had a book suggestion and a little something else extra to say and wanted to encourage them…
…then Rob accidentally replied to me about thinking I might be a scammer instead of to Lindsey (it was a great moment for all of us, honestly).
Then, when we met up to chat via a phone call, I had mentioned how Rob and Lindsey got me hooked on Star Wars…so then he asked if I would be a guest to talk about Star Wars from someone who joined the fandom way late into the game (and largely because of their influence)!
You can check the episode out here.
It was a great time and I loved being a podcast guest!! And all it took was being a fan and an encourager!
Don’t Forget to Ask to Be a Podcast Guest
At the end of the day, they may never think to ask you if you also don’t pitch yourself as a podcast guest.
Be an innovator, a partner on their journey, and the best customer possible and then give them a solid pitch with why you can bring some authority, credibility, or trust to their audience.
More than likely, they will say yes. That’s the absolute simplest method I can think of for how to be a podcast guest! Now go on out there and give it a shot!
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Before you go, though, I’d love it if you checked out the socials below! (I don’t have a podcast…yet…but I love the support and encouragement)
If you like what you see and need some sweet content to meet your customers where they are at (and not talk to them like a Google Search bar), then feel free to email Dylan directly or contact us directly.
As always, I appreciate you, friend!!
