Just don’t do it.
Refuse to be like other entrepreneurs and thought leaders who think they can simply go on a podcast to only pitch their business or products and assume sales leads will fall out of the sky into their lap.
It doesn’t work that way.
During my media career, I’ve booked everyone from Canadian bookkeepers to entrepreneurial heavyweights, such as Seth Godin and Barbara Corcoran, onto podcasts, but the guests that saw leads from their appearances set themselves up to win by implementing key strategies.
To find some examples, I enlisted the help of a trio of qualified experts including John Lee Dumas, who hosts the Entrepreneur On Fire podcast which attracts over 1.5 million monthly listens; Lewis Howes, who is a New York Times best-selling author and host of The School of Greatness podcast; and, Beth Buelow who hosts The Introvert Entrepreneur podcast and is the author of The Introvert Entrepreneur: Amplify Your Strengths and Create Success On Your Own Terms.
With their assistance, here are five strategies that can help you make the most of your podcast guest appearance.
1. Find relevant podcasts that serve your ideal audience.
Whether you do this yourself or hire others, appearing on the right interview-based show is crucial. For example, if you were an author of a new book about elephant mating rituals, you wouldn’t be looking to be on a podcast about how to knit Christmas sweaters. That’s just weird.
Dumas says, “I look for podcasts whose audiences I know I can provide massive value to. The content / topic has to match what I can deliver on [to] give my strengths and knowledge, otherwise I know I won’t be serving those who are tuning in.”
So, where do you find relevant podcasts?
Dumas suggests, “Sometimes recommendations, sometimes through the podcaster reaching out to me with a request to be on their show, and sometimes by doing research in iTunes — typing in keywords that match up with the topics I know I can speak to.”
Howes adds, “I’m always looking at the iTunes charts and on social media at who’s doing what, what’s getting noticed, what shows people are talking about.“
You can also check out podcast networks such as PodcastOne and BlogTalkRadio.com to see what shows might be a fit for you.
2. Offer value first instead of talking about yourself.
On a podcast, listeners don’t want to hear…