Interviewing guests is an ideal way for you to offer expert content to your audience and for your guests to expand exposure – a real win-win for the podcaster and the guest. If your podcast is new, you may be worried that your audience size is too small to attract a reputable guest. Even if your podcast is up and running with a decent audience size, you still have the task of finding fresh guests that offer a new perspective. It can be not very easy in both situations to regularly fill an interview calendar with guests that provide value to your listeners. Here are our top tips for finding great podcast guests for your show.
Other Podcasts, Blogs, Articles, YouTubers, and Influencers in Your Niche
Take a look around at all the different mediums that are covering your niche topic – searching Google and YouTube will get the ball rolling. Odds are, other creators are also featuring guest interviews. Decide which guests would make a good fit for your audience and are giving interviews that cover the topics you want to explore. If they’ve done interviews before, they are most likely in the market to do more.
Guests that are being booked and interviewed on other podcasts, blogs, and YouTube channels will have relevant, valuable, and timely expert content to share with your audience. They will be open to an interview on your show and will most likely have a following of their own to which they can share the episode as soon as it is published.
As you’re searching other mediums for guests in your niche, you’re bound to come across some content creators that catch your attention. If another podcaster, blogger, or YouTuber has great insight that you think your audience would benefit from listening to, reach out for a cross-promotion opportunity. Not only will you deliver great content from working together, but the opportunity will also introduce you to a new audience.
Traditional Media
Broadcasters, journalists, news anchors, and writers interview great guests for radio, television, newspapers, and magazines. You would be surprised at how many guests that appear on traditional media will say yes if asked to be on your podcast.
Recent or Upcoming Publications
Be on the lookout for recently published books or albums and upcoming projects. These folks are mostly trying to sell something new and will jump at the opportunity for exposure. The best place to find authors is on Amazon. Go to the Books section and filter by Coming Soon and your podcast’s niche. They benefit by being able to reach out to your audience, and your audience gets to hear an expert’s take on the topic—a definite win-win when your target audience overlaps.
Do be clear with this type of guest that you don’t want one long sales pitch to your audience. Let them know that you expect them to deliver value on various talking points that you provide them, and at the end of the interview, they will be able to pitch their product to your audience. At the end of the interview, let your listeners know where they can buy their book or album. You may even have the opportunity for an affiliate link if that option is available!
Connect in Online Communities
If you’re active on social media or other online communities, this can be a great source of both guests and new listeners. As you’re making connections, you may find influencers or industry experts that would make a great guest on your podcast. Make a genuine connection and start a conversation. Don’t just like, but go the extra mile to comment and share their posts. Build a real relationship over time, and once you feel comfortable, ask them to be a guest. But don’t be creepy – come from a place of authenticity and build value in what you’re offering them as a guest.
Some great online communities to get plugged into your niche are Facebook Groups and Reddit. Both communities house dedicated fans to whatever the topic is they belong to and will have knowledgeable members that would make great guests. Join the conversation and be a knowledgeable contributor in your own right to gain trust and respect.
Use a Podcast Guest Service
Believe it or not, there are podcast guest matchmakers out there! Services will match a podcast with a guest for a great fit that works for both parties involved. These services can help you find qualified and exciting guests that you might not otherwise find. Typically, you can post-interview requests and browse through their guest lists to see if there’s a match. Some services worth checking out are:
Pitch Guests With Obvious Benefits
By now, you should have a spreadsheet with at least a few guests you want to reach out to and invite onto your show. What’s the best way to reach them? You can send them a concise email or social media message that builds value for them as a guest. If you can’t find their email, you can try using Moz’s comprehensive post on how to find anybody’s email address.
Your message should pitch guests with the apparent benefits of being on your show. Explain how you think your target audiences overlap, and they would benefit from exposure to your audience. Share your audience size or the number of downloads you get per episode. If you’re new and your audience is small, be transparent and let them know. If you have a more significant following elsewhere, like an email list or social media following, let them know the size of that audience. If that’s small as well, you may want to consider paid promotion to let them know that you’re serious.
Another attractive offer guests are interested in are backlinks to their website. Give them some SEO juice by linking to their website, landing page, or other online resources. This will help them in search engines and drive more traffic to their sites.
When looking for guests, your focus should be on providing high-quality content for your audience. Once you find some great fits and you reach out to potential guests, do expect some rejection. It happens.
If you want to avoid rejection and not even deal with the hassle of always looking for guests, Podcast Taxi will take care of booking guests for you! Let us do all of the hard work while you sit back and record the most exceptional interview of your podcast career. Jump on a discovery call and see how we can help.
