Latest / Imperfect Marketing / Episode 132: Mastering the Art of Podcast Guest Marketing with Erin Curran

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Episode 132: Mastering the Art of Podcast Guest Marketing with Erin Curran · Imperfect Marketing

• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Hello and welcome back to another episode of Imperfect Marketing.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: I am your host, kendra Corman, and today's guest is Erin.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Erin is a podcast guest marketer.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: She pitches people to podcast hosts like me to help get them host guest gigs right.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: So, she had actually been listening to podcasts, going through changes in her life, and they really motivated you to take action and make changes and follow your heart, which turned into podcast guest marketing.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: So tell us a little bit more about how you got into this.
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's true, like for me, there's a really heart-centered reason behind loving podcasts because they helped me get through really difficult times.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: I used to love, like there's times when I went through breakups and had mad anxiety about certain things and I turned to podcasts for a sense of guidance and comfort and I just wanted to know what my next step would be with my situation.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: I found them to be so helpful and educational so I knew that there was just so much value in them.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: And then, years later, I did a degree in media and communication and ended up pitching to pitching my first client to podcasts as a guest and I just fell in love with it.
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: I just tried it and I was like this is so fun and I'm really making such an impact on people's lives.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: You don't know how many people you're inspiring by being a guest.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: So let's talk about that.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about the benefits of being a guest, beyond just the impact that you can have.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah for sure.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: First of all, you can grow your audience because you're getting in front of a whole new pool of ideal clients.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: They're sharing your story and they fit because they can get to know and trust you through the realm of being a guest on a podcast.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: They're more likely to follow you, connect with you and become a warm lead in your own business.
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: So you can attract warm leads as well as building your reputation and positioning yourself as an expert in your field.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: It's easier for you to become the go-to person in that field if you featured on a range of podcasts as a guest.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: So there's that.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: And then the final benefit I would give you is that you can use any material you've been a guest on a podcast for repurposing content on Instagram or Facebook and share it.
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: And then, yeah, there you go.
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: There's more content for you to promote as a business owner and to share a bit about yourself or a nugget of wisdom or value that you've bought to a podcast, and it gets the word out in the best way possible, I think.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: And I love that.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: I love that you're sharing that.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: It builds that no-intrust factor and I think that is huge right, Because as people see you, if it's a video podcast or even just listening to your voice, they start to feel that connection to you.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: For sure, because it's raw, organic conversation.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: So you know, social media is a very popular way to market yourself and I do too.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: But the thing with social media is it's short-form content and you can't necessarily get to know people on that deeper level, because reels last 60 seconds, so you can't.
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: You don't get a full picture of someone.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: But if they're a guest on a podcast, you can really engage and understand their story and just feel so much more connected to them.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, it's a great way to establish that deeper connection with your ideal clients.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I love that and I do believe that almost all business owners I actually haven't identified any that would not benefit from some level of being a guest on podcasts.
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: Because there's so many niche podcasts out there that are catering to your target audience and people love them.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: I know that people aren't commuting as much as they used to and there's a lot more working from home and working remote, but people are still listening to podcasts as they walk or as they sit in their office or drive.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: Wherever they're going.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: They are engaging with podcasts, and it's been a growing market too.
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: It really is a growing market Like.
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: I heard a statistic that the podcast industry was worth $13 billion in 2021.
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: And it's due to be worth $149 billion by 2030.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: It's growing year after year.
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: More and more people are engaging in podcasts and I think it's becoming the what Like a seriously popular way to not just market yourself as a business owner but like really share your story and like impact people.
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, people also listen to podcasts as well.
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: Even if it's not commuting, cleaning people are people listen to them.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: Cleaning driving, sometimes If you're on a walk walking your dog.
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: There's multiple ways that people engage with podcasts.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: So if somebody, if there was an entrepreneur who wanted to get started in podcast guesting what, do you?
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: Recommend that they do.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: I would recommend that they just start, just put themselves out there and if there's any kind of mindset blocks coming up about this, I know some of my clients have had mindset blocks such as oh, I'm not good enough for this podcast a podcast, or it's only the big industry leaders that get featured on podcasts.
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: Ask yourself, where are these beliefs coming from?
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: Are they my own or is it something that I've learned?
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: Because what you'll find is that there are so many podcasts out there that are right for you.
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: You don't have to be featured on the top tier podcast straight away.
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: You can work your way up or even being featured on smaller podcasts.
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: You'll be able to see results, because sometimes the bigger podcasts, they can be overly saturated.
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: For example, if you are a sustainable company or an entrepreneur that really voices sustainability and you're featured on a huge podcast, you could possibly get a few follows, likes, leads through there.
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: But the ones you're really gonna see the most effective are the smaller ones where there's a real loyal fan base to those podcasts.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: So I would just say to any entrepreneurs out there just do it, try it.
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: Push yourself outside of your comfort zone, because the best change happen when you do.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: And if you're nervous about being on a podcast, then just practice.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: Have interview practice with yourself.
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: Write down potential questions you might be asked and answer them to yourself in the mirror if you need to, but try, step by pushing yourself out your comfort zone and pitch to podcasts and see where it takes you.
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: And I think an important thing to note is that if you're uncomfortable, first off, podcasts mostly are marketing for podcast hosts, right, and for the guests, which means it's not investigative journalism.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: We're not trying to stump you, we're not.
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: We wanna add value to our audience.
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: And so the questions that you can answer, the stuff that you do on a regular basis, is what we want you to share with our audience anyway.
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: That's why we picked you, or that's why what you sent resonated with us to the point where we want that value and that knowledge to be shared with our audience, which is great and I think again, I think that gives people a level of comfort when being interviewed Again.
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: I'm not trying to trip you.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: I just want, I want your knowledge and your value to be shared with my audience, so that they can benefit from what you have to share.
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: Absolutely and in perfect marketing, isn't it?
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: So, even if it is, if you don't feel like things are perfect with you or how you're presenting yourself, you're putting yourself out there, and that is the first step.
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: Definitely so.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: One of the things that I hear from a lot of different people is that they don't like their voice.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: And what do you have to say to people that it's the hurdle that they're trying to get over?
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: They know they have the knowledge, they know they have the information to share.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: The problem is that they don't like the sound of their own voice.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: I've been there myself.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: I've listened to podcasts myself back, which I've featured as a guest.
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: on another thing, oh I don't like what I said there or how I sounded, and I think the advice I give there is just lean into self-compassion and ask yourself why you're doing it.
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: You're doing it to get yourself out there, serve other people, reach more people.
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: So get back to your why.
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: And the I don't like my voice thing is it is in our heads.
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: It's us that's telling ourselves that.
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: So there are ways that you can become to like your own voice.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: You will get used to it and you'll find that like self-acceptance over time.
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: It can take practice, but you'll get there.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: One of my friends, actually, who was a guest on the podcast recently.
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: She just emailed me because I emailed her the link to let her know that her podcast was live and she's oh my gosh, you've got such a great voice, you could even do voiceovers, and I'm like I hate listening to myself.
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: So I think, again, we don't like to look at ourselves.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: We're the harshest critics.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: I think it's really important to just go with it.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: It's nowhere near as bad as you think it is to other people, and I think that's really important.
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: So let's talk a little bit about tips for developing a growth mindset and resilience around visibility, because that's really what you're pitching is your pitching people or your clients want to become more visible, and so what are your tips around that?
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: So tips some of my clients are confident with speaking and others aren't, so my tips for them were two journal Journaling is a really powerful tool writing down all your thoughts and not just not necessarily engaging with the thoughts, but being the observer of the thoughts and pulling yourself up on what mindset blocks are coming out around visibility and being the observer of them.
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: So when you start to feel them again, you can almost note it as a note in your mind rather than buying into the story of it.
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: So I would say that just practicing that a lot, journaling a lot because journaling really releases can release limiting beliefs.
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: I know it has done for me and it really did for the client that I work with as well, and she was saying I don't think my story matters and I said why?
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: And she was just like I just don't think there's better people out there and you just have to realize that these are limiting beliefs and they can be worked through.
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: I just helped to reframe her perspective on that and it did shift and she had this realization and that was just through conversation, like on a call.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: You really can do this through journaling.
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: It's just a step-by-step process and over time you're able to release those beliefs and go.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: Do you know what I'm gonna put myself out there?
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: I agree, and I think that's a big step.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: Progress is better than perfection at all times.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: So you wanna do what you can to move forward right and just put those beliefs aside and just go for it.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: You have value to add to the world.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: Exactly, yeah, you do have value to add to the world.
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: Everyone's story is unique.
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: You might be a business owner and the story that may be a really big CEO that's telling on one podcast might not relate to your ideal clients, but the way you tell it and what you have to say will relate.
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: So never put yourself down or play it small.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: Know that, like, what you have to say really does matter and can inspire people and get people to buy into your services.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: So let's talk a little bit about the secrets of landing a good podcast guest opportunity.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: What are those?
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: What are your secrets or some of the tips that you can offer people?
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: So some of the tips I would offer.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: I'd say the first thing is, do your research Research is really important and stay organized with it.
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: So make a list of podcasts that you think you would be a good guest on and, when it comes to pitching to those podcasts individually, this is something not a lot of people do, but it gets me such high response rate than it gets other people really high response rates and that's personalize the pitch.
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: Really personalize it.
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: Go and listen to an episode or a segment of an episode of the podcast that you're pitching to and tell the podcast host what it is that you like about that episode.
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: How does it relate to you, what resonated with you?
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: Because they're going to feel they're going to feel like, oh, this person has actually listened to my podcast and they'll have a different feeling to you than to someone who's just sent them a cookie cutter, blanky email of hi, I want to be on your podcast.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: They're going to respond to you like a lot more than they would have sent a generic email.
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: So I'd say, personalize the pitch, get specific and tell the podcast host what value you can bring to their podcast listeners, how you can impact them, how you can educate them.
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: What wisdom or nuggets of knowledge can you share that maybe no one else has shared before?
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: What's different about you?
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: Really pitch yourself in a way that you know that you're going to be able to share something very insightful with the listeners.
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: So that's some information I'd share.
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: And then also, I would say, always follow up as well.
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: I think that's really important.
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: I also think and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this so I always like people to tell me the value that they can add to their audience, Like I've had people pitch me and say you can check my bio for more information about what I can do.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: Don't make me work.
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: You want to be on my podcast, I'm not doing any work.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: You need to spell it out for me as to have the value you can add, and then I would love to have you right.
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah make it as easy as possible for the podcast host.
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: That is what you've got to do when you pitch the host Make it easy.
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: If you make their life hard, are they going to have time for you?
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: Probably not.
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: No, it amazes me how many people literally don't tell me what they want to talk about.
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: They pitch me.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: You can tell Some of them have listened to an episode, some of them clearly haven't.
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and they don't give me any information.
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: I'm like.
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to go find it.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: I have things to do 100%, because you want to know why they're going to be a good guest and if they're not telling you, it gives you more groundwork, doesn't it, to try and find it out.
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: Especially, I can imagine you get so many pitches.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: You only have so much time in the day to respond, so it's likely you're just going to, as a podcast host, choose the ones that have the kind of the most straightforward and personalised pitches.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: Is that right?
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that again yeah, personalised, showing that they listened, sharing the value that they can add to my audience.
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: That's what I care about, and if you haven't looked to see who my audience is, if you haven't looked to see the topics I cover, those are the issues that we really start to run into.
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: Erin, one question for you, Another thing that I suggest to some people if they're looking and thinking about starting a podcast.
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: I think that guessing is a great way to start, because it gives you the ability to break the ice so to say, and get started with being on camera or on audio and adjusting to being in front of people and sharing your information.
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: It does.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: What are your thoughts on that?
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, that's so true.
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: It lets you get familiar with the format of a podcast, how it works, how it's structured.
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: What makes a good podcast, guesting is yes, you're totally right, kendra.
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: It's a great way to break the ice into the realm of the podcast world, because it can be pretty scary if you're starting out in your own podcast.
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: Try guesting and see how it feels and if you feel ready to start your own.
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, my first podcast.
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: I had serious pod fade.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: I don't think I made it past episode seven but I was doing solo episodes.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: I wasn't really excited about it, it wasn't really what I wanted to be doing, I was just playing around with it and there was a lot more involved than I realized.
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: And my second podcast clearly I'm on episode 100 and something, so no pod fade this time and that's a big piece because I really got to understand the medium and I started listening and I was guesting a little bit, just trying to figure out where my niche was, and that really helped.
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: I can imagine it's practice makes perfect, isn't it?
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: It definitely is.
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: It also really helped me narrow down my topics, even though I talk about a lot of things getting wise for entrepreneurs, solopreneurs and other service providers, but it's really about, again, creating ideas and opportunities for them to grow their business without spending a million dollars on everything.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: Because that's what it comes down to and I think that's another thing to note is that podcast guesting is free.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: You can hire someone like you, so there's an investment if you don't have the time to do it, but you can reach out to podcast hosts and it doesn't cost you anything.
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: You just need a set of headphones and a microphone and you're all good.
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: It doesn't have to be anything super fancy.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: Exactly.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: You're so right.
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: It is free.
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: I think the internet is the most amazing tool.
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: It gives us so much information.
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: You can find email addresses of podcast hosts on there guest submission forms.
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: Many podcasts have that and all it costs you is your time.
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: But in my opinion, it's time worth spent.
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: It's an investment in your time because, yeah, it's not like paid advertising.
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: You just get yourself out there, pitch to podcasts, get featured and the next thing you know, you're going to be getting more followers on social media and more people asking about your services.
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: I had one today from a podcast I was on last month somebody asking me about my business and I forgot it was there.
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: It was a while ago now.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, people can really find you through that realm.
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: I think that's fantastic.
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: All right, so before we go, I do want to ask you a question that I ask all of my guests.
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: The show is called Imperfect Marketing because, as all of us know, marketing is anything but a perfect science.
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: So what has been your biggest marketing lesson learned?
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, my biggest marketing lesson has been that messy action is better than no action at all.
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: It's about taking the pressure off yourself and just doing it anyway.
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: Let go of the perfectionist mindset and just go for it, and I think, in terms of relating it to podcast pitching, if you're struggling with time, it would be to pitch to just three podcasts a week that you're a fit for.
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: Keep it simple Messy action over perfection.
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: I love that.
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: I love that idea of messy action.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Nothing has to be perfect and I like getting started.
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: Yes, pitch to three podcasts a week.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: I don't look at mine every day, but I always look at all of the people that submit requests to my podcast.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: As long as they don't go to junk Again, you can go ahead and pitch.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: What's worse that I can say is, no, it's nothing to be afraid of.
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: And if I say no and you give me a really well-crafted pitch or never know, it's a.
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for reaching out.
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: I don't necessarily think that this content is right for me right now, and then it still gives you an opportunity to reply with different content or better understanding my audience, and I'll usually explain my decision because that's what I'm trying to do.
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: But if you do a well-researched pitch, ads are strongly against people actually not doing that.
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: I think that's fantastic.
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your time, erin.
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: If you got a connect with Erin, we'll have a link to her website in the show notes, for sure, and you can go ahead, reach out to her and schedule a time to chat to see how she can help you with either done for you, podcast guest marketing services or coaching on the matter, but if this is something that you're interested in doing, reach out to Erin and see how you can broaden your audience through podcast guesting.
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: I look forward to seeing you all on another episode of Imperfect Marketing.
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: Have a great rest of your day.