Day 18: Finding Podcast Guests

Today we discuss how to setup your podcast interviews & recommended places to find your first interview guests.

Steps for Skill Mastery:

1. Start your list of potential guests
2. Expand your list

Step 1: Put Together A List of Potential Guests

Today we are going to find our first potential guests. I recommend starting interviews with experts and thought leaders who are already in your network. These people already know, like, and trust you and will be more willing to support you in your efforts.

Because the first people who will be listening to your podcast will most likely be your existing network, interviewing “celebs” of your network gives you a chance to celebrate them, they will be more likely to share your episode, and listeners will already know who they are. A win win for everyone.

It also gives you time to practice and refine your interview process before reaching out to bigger names in your niche.

Activity: Start Your List

Start listing the people in your immediate network who you would like to interview on your podcast.

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Now lets begin to expand this list to other's outside your immediate network.

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Step 2: Expand Your List of Potential Guests

Once you covered your immediate network, you will want to add more people to your list.

When making this list we will group people into 3 phases – short term, mid term, and long term targets.

Short term

• These are your closest contacts. You probably have these people in your phone contacts and can text them when you want.
• These are the people that will open your message or email because they know you personally in some capacity.
• You could close them on being a podcast guest quickly.
• These people should have some influence in their niche.
• They should be aligned with the niche of your podcast.

Mid term

• These are people with authority in your niche – it doesn’t have to be someone with 100k followers.
• These are people you either are connected with but don’t have a relationship with, or you are not connected with them but are aware of their authority in the niche.
• You are getting referrals from people in your network to these people. This could also be referrals from your short term guests. As you know, people with big networks or lots of followers usually know others that have the same.
• They should be aligned with the niche of your podcast.

Long Term

• Developing your dream list and getting them on your podcast one by one as you increase your circle of influence.
• These are people with high authority or celebrity status in your niche – it doesn’t have to be someone with 100k followers.
• These are people you either are connected with but don’t have a relationship with, or you are not connected with them but are aware of their authority in the niche.
• They should be aligned with the niche of your podcast.
• Depending on how “big” they are will determine the strategy for you to get in front of this person.

To begin finding these people you can search for them on places like:

• Confrenence Speakers
• Amazon Books
• Publications
• Social Media
• Blogs
• Youtube
• Other Podcasts
• Past Guests
• Podcast Guest Marketplaces like Podmatch and Matchmaker

Activity: Expand Your List

Expand your list by adding people who are in the three categories listed above. Aim to have 50-100 people on your list. Create a template for yourself similar to the one below.

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As you progress as a podcaster and develop the type of content you create, your list will grow and transform based on the information that is important to you. To this day I still continue to keep a running list of guests I would like to interview, however it has transformed over the years. Below is a picture of what my list looks like right now. I also use a tool called airtable to create my list.

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Skill Lesson Mastered

Demonstrate mastery of the knowledge and skills presented in this lesson by applying it to the above activity. If, and only if, you have a full understanding and have mastered the knowledge and skills presented in this lesson, select the next lesson in the navigation.