Episode 19: How to pitch yourself as an expert to be a guest on other shows

Welcome back to another episode of Healthy Profits Podcast. I'm your host, Rae Ireland. Today we're going to be diving into how to pitch yourself as an expert to be a guest on someone else's show. Obviously, this is an incredible strategy to get you in front of other audiences, to be connecting you with other leaders. It's great for positioning, and there's also some ways that you can do it in a really successful manner. So that way it's easy and feels fluid and organic and supported to both parties. And there's a really annoying way to do this, too. So that's what I'm going to break down for you. What works, what doesn't work, and how to successfully get yourself on other people's shows as that guest expert. So let's dive in. When you are putting yourself out there. There used to be a strategy that worked where you could actually do more cold pitches. You could send emails, you could reach out to people. I saw this strategy used a lot about four or five years ago when I first got into the podcast space, and it was just starting to pick up. There wasn't so many people having their own shows, trying to get out there using the vehicle of a podcast. And it worked. It was this, like, interesting, cool thing. Oh, yeah. Like, here's all the stuff I'm doing. Here's the community I've created. Let me pitch it to you, Let me pitch my ideas of what I can speak on, give you some samples and videos. And it was a great way to get in front of other people's audiences. Unfortunately, as the growth of podcasting has been happening, which is amazing for all of us, right? This is an incredible platform. Obviously, it's picking up in popularity and people are tuning in more, wanting to listen more. It's a great way to get information out there and also to the right people and to build positivity, brand trust, all of these things. Obviously, we go really deep into all of those in other episodes, but if you're pitching yourself in a cold way, it can start to be really annoying and it can actually do opposite of all those things that we're looking to build with your podcast. So, for instance, my email, since I've had a podcast for about five years, that's a good while it's people have heard about it and it's out there, it's up there. I get around anywhere from 10 to 20 emails a week with guests trying to be on my podcast now. At first, this was interesting. Like I said, it did work. I would look at these Emails. Now it has gotten to the point where there are so many people cold pitching themselves because this was a strategy that was really taught across the board. I was in other masterminds and did other programs where they said, yes, this is a viable way to do this anyways. I am receiving these emails so often that I don't even open them anymore. It's annoying, it's frustrating. I don't look at who's sending them. It's the same format every time because there was a strategy that was taught, right? And it just isn't working. So I know that if I'm feeling this way and it's not working and I'm not really enjoying this process of getting all these cold pitches. And it's same goes for TV and like newscasters and stuff like that. Like they're not necessarily going to be opening up these emails now maybe every now and then I get past the annoyance and maybe have a little extra few minutes and I read through and I see. But honestly, have I ever booked someone from there? I haven't. So maybe there's a rare case where it would be a perfect fit. But honestly, it's a bit of a miss in terms of resource allocation and it just really isn't hitting. I also know this because I was on the other side of it too, sending out these cold pitches. Now, out of how many cold pitches landed, it was a very, very small percentage where those times where I was a guest on the show from those emails, like, did it really move the needle so far forward that it was worth all of those resources and energy? And if it wasn't me sending them, it was my assistant. It still was a lot. And so was it worth it? Not really. So what we started to teach our clients is a new way to pitch yourself to guest experts that truly feels exciting and expansive and more connecting and more human. So this is the way that has been working really well. And I cannot wait to share this with you. So again, you don't want to be annoying people, right? That is not the purpose of getting yourself to be a guest on other people's shows. When you are annoying someone, you're. You are hurting your reputation, right? And so we really want to be protecting your reputation in a way where we're growing it in a positive influence and a positive impact. So, you know, if you're going to be a guest on someone else's show, you also, you want to be friends, right? You want to have that great energy. So here is the game plan that we share with our clients and that I've been using personally as well. That has been working way better. And we know that you're going to have a lot of fun with this, too, because it has a little bit more space to be creative. So let's dive in. So step one, you find your dream podcast to be on. You find that person that you really want to be interviewed by, and then you build a relationship. So when I'm sharing this with you guys and what I'm going to actually have you do is write out a list of 5 to 10 of these kind of dream podcasts to be on. And it's really fun because from there you can retire into the stars. Of course, there's going to be people that maybe are quite outside of your league that you want to be on and put that on the list, but you also want to get some people that are in a similar space to you, maybe a similar league, so to say. So you build these relationships, you nurture and you give first, and then you continue to water these relationships until you see the fruits. And when I say that these are not just the fruits for you, it's the fruits for them as well. And this is where things start to look much different in comparison to this old model of cold emailing, where, yeah, maybe it'll land and it'll be a good fit, but if it's mostly annoying people, then what's the point, right? So let's break this down even more. So, number one, find your dream podcast or person to be interviewed by. Number two, you build a relationship. Three, you nurture and give first. And then four, you continue to nurture. You water that relationship until you see the fruits. So let's dive deeper into this. So once you have that list, maybe you have your dream list of 10, 5 to 10 people. Make sure that you are going for people that are in your league first. Because remember, every single interview you do, you're going to get better. As your show progresses, you're going to get better. So you don't want to bring in those heavy hitters right from the start. That's actually not going to help your podcast. It's going to hurt it. And you might not have all the pieces set up. There might be just, like, loose ends that haven't been, like, worked through enough. So use your timeline in a considerable and intentional way. There are other episodes where we talk about making sure that you're not bringing on a guest that's overshadowing you. That's another reason you can go deeper into that episode to look at that. But we really want to start with people that are pretty close to your league. And so it's not about reaching so many more people, it's actually about reaching more people that are in a similar audience and in an audience that is parallel to yours to where those listeners can actually really utilize what you have to offer and vice versa. So what you're going to do is once you have that list, going to actually invite them to be on your show. How fun, right? Going from a give first place is one of the most beautiful ways that you can establish an amazing relationship. All right, for all you single people out there, this goes for that too, right? All relationships, see where you can be giving first and you'll really be establishing these beautiful relationships that are anchored in just this beautiful like depth and trust and receptivity. Because it's not only a take first mentality, right? I think we all want this. So do it in your business too. Do it in your podcast too. So make sure it's someone who when you invite them on, they will be getting benefit from your show, right? So imagine you're inviting someone on that's like way out of your league. Having them take time out of their busy day to come be on your show, Is that really supporting them in their mission? If it's a no, then just wait, keep it in your back pocket. Don't give up your dreams, don't throw it out, but wait to build up for that to where you have something really amazing you can offer these people that are maybe bigger league type guests. So then next step is you host an epic interview with them. You really show them how well your services compliment each other. You're promoting them to your audience, you're really highlighting them, you're really just creating the platform for them to shine. And I find that when I do that as the interviewer, of course they're going to be feeding that energy back as well. And so when you do the proper like background, what would it be called? Background research. Basically when you do the proper background, background research on your guest, then you can really see how can I position them and their services to compliment, not overshadow and not undershadow the services that you have to offer as well outside of your podcast. And that's where it can become really fun. And actually more can happen than just getting into their audience and being in front of a new group of listeners. It can actually start to form you new business relationships. And now one of the most amazing quotes is who not how. When you have more People in your back pocket that you can connect with or link with or partner up with, collaborate with. There's so many more opportunities that are at your door. So this is really looking at a multi prong benefit experience for all parties involved, which I think is really important, especially if you're going to spend 20 minutes or so talking to someone. So most of the time what I found is if you're actually talking to someone that is in your league and they're seeing the benefits of how you two can be promoting each other, cross promoting, connecting, maybe even supporting each other's clients outside of the podcast. I mean the list can go on and on. When you start getting creative, then they most likely will ask you to be on their show. And that's a really amazing feeling, right? Wow, that just happens so organically. It's from such a gift first mentality and then you don't know what those next steps will be after that. What I found is if that person doesn't invite me for the first show or like during the first interview, I will always, whether they invited me or not, I will always do an Instagram Live follow up before or around the time that the episode where they are featured in on my show is released. Now I talk a lot more about this on episode 13 where I go into Instagram Live follow ups and how to use that as part of your marketing strategy. So go check that out if you didn't listen to that yet because that's a really powerful tool and this ties into it. So a lot of times when you do that, you are then again promoting them, putting them on the front seat or the front cover, you can say of your magazine, of your social media platform. You're putting them out there to your audience to share this amazing interview you did with them and that leads people right back to that episode that just came out with them. And I think there's just so many places you can give and create deeper connection right there. And again, you can also be showing your guest during that time all, all that you have to offer as well. Right. And so likely the likelihood of them actually if they don't ask you to be on their show during that first interview, if you do the live follow up, there's such a high chance that by that point they're going to be like, oh yeah, I totally forgot, I would love to have you on my show. That would be amazing. You would be such a great addition. And that's what we're going for. You want to be such a great bonus additional that you're not just like sliding into their DMs, you're not just sliding into their email. But now they're actually excited to record and promote to their audience because they know how much you'll be giving to their audience. And again, what a win, win, give first mentality. And that's what's so beautiful in terms of how to build up these types of relationships. So when they ask you to be on their show, this is when you can send them that pitch email that is ready to go with the topics you'd like to dive into with your bio, all of those pieces. So this is where I like to say, write out those emails that you've been taught, or if you haven't been taught, come hang out with us. Over at Evolve Podcasting, we have all the templates, all these things that make it really easy. And that's when you can then have your assistant send the email, right? Because they will be in anticipation and they will be in that expectancy of you sending them an amazing email that they're so excited to be able to choose the topics from. Wow, what different energy from feeling spammed to then actually feeling like, oh, my gosh, I can't wait to see your email pop into my inbox. So that's an amazing way, an amazing strategy to get linked, get connected, get onto other people's shows as the guest expert. And one thing that I think needs to be mentioned is follow up. Remember to follow up, because even if you've gotten yourself that far into that conversation, you've maybe sent them an email with all the ideas of how you want to be positioned yourself or what, where things can lead into. A lot of times on podcasting, you can lead people to a freebie, which, if you're doing a launch, then you can use that to lead the freebie into the launch that you're offering. There's so many fun ways that you can get creative with the funnels from there. But remember, these people still, the. The people that you're interacting with are busy. They're other entrepreneurs. You have to follow up and give them the benefit of the doubt that they didn't see your email, that it got missed, that it got stuck in a promotions folder or spam folder. You never know. So make sure that you follow up. And then on the other side, say you do the interview, it goes well. You have such a fun time. Make sure that you promote their show before they even ask. So ways that I like to do this is I like to even do maybe like A selfie story right before I'm about to go on. Maybe I'm even taking a photo of us during the recording session or a little video as a sneak peek. These are ways that you can really put yourself out there as again, that give first mentality and be promoting the show before there's even assets created, getting your audience excited, tagging them, helping them create stuff that they can then share very easily with one click of a button. This is where they really can see, wow, this person is really helpful. This is amazing. And I can guarantee when you put yourself out there in this sort of way, the rewards and the opportunities that are going to come back are going to be tenfold because you're creating such ease and flow and grace and support to all those around you. Where does that leave us for today? I think it leaves us with my challenge for you, which is make that dream list get five people on it. Let's see if we can get five people that are hovering around your league. Of course, you know, we'll always throw in a few of those dream guests that we would like to have on our show. But create that list people who you'd love to be on their show and then reach out to them, have them on your show, watch it unfold in this very synergistic and complimenting way. And I know you'll have a lot of fun with it as well. Enjoy the process. Let us know if this worked. Let us know your stories behind this because we want to hear. This is such a fun way to do podcast. And remember that as you get on these shows, as you are the expert, position yourself as the expert, as I know you guys will. But make sure to see how can you always be giving first to the me, the us, and the we. So the me would just be me, obviously, positioning myself. That's super important. We have a whole episode on it. The we is really creating these beautiful synergistic relationships and then the us is involving the listeners, making sure that what you're sharing is not just a random story, but it's truly in support of where that audience, listeners are. So the last thing that I'll leave you guys with to chew on is get to know the show that you're going to be on as a guest. Get to know their audience before you begin. Sometimes I know I have a whole episode on here where I, I share with you how to get ready to to have a guest on your show and things that you want to prepare, things that you can share with them. So that way they feel prepared. That is an incredible episode. Unfortunately, not everyone is listening to that episode or has a system or strategy in place to tell you about their show, tell you about their listeners and their audience. So take the responsibility first by asking and making sure that you know exactly who their audience is, who are their listeners, what are their listeners main pain points, what are they looking for, what are the things that are driving them? Try and get all that information before you do the episode and that way you'll really be giving as the guest expert to the, the, the bigger collective that are really the listeners and that's who's most important. Because then of course, they might be interested in following your show and, you know, going down your whole rabbit hole. So that's what we love to do, is create binge worthy, monetizing podcasts. And this is an incredible strategy to get you in front of new audiences by pitching yourself as a guest expert on other shows. I hope this helped you guys and we will talk soon.

Now that was a great episode. Thanks for joining us and tuning in to the Healthy Profits podcast.

Sami and I are here to help you turn your health podcast into into a treasure trove of opportunity for your listeners and your business. So join us twice a week as we unleash our favorite tips and strategies that have helped our clients at Evolve Podcasting turn their show into a thriving part of their business.

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