How to Easily Plan The Next Perfect Podcast Guest Now

Okay, guys, I think we're live on Facebook, and of course, we're live on Zoom. Hi, I'm Tracy Hazzard. This is feed you'd brand, and this is the third installment of our content strategy for 2019. Wouldn't you like to get your plan done early? So I welcome all of you who are joining me right now. And I see some familiar names. Hi, Chella. Hi, Rodney. And thanks so much for being here on our third installment. Thank you. And today we're really going to talk about guests. And that is the interview strategy is a strategic part of podcasting. It really took off that way. There's kind of a historical basis for really growing shows. A lot of that comes from John Lee Dumas and that model of it. So I want to dive in, and I, as always, am a PowerPoint girl. So I am going to share with you my screen, and we'll get started in on that. And we will also. I'm going to really quickly copy this so I can give this to you when the time comes.

And there we go. So our goal, of course, is to get more next year. Right? We all want to get more. There's something we want to get more of, and a lot of it is fans. This is what I hear. Fans, more leads, relationship building, those kinds of things. And so that's really where a great content strategy that involves guests can really help you. And so I'm going to talk a little bit about the why, then I'm going to talk about a little bit about the details about how we decide which guests to invite on and which ones are going to give us the most power so that we can really have a strategic plan and not just, let's make sure I have 52 weeks of guests. Right? We want to do more than that. We want to go deeper. And then I'll take some questions at the end, like I always do, and we'll kind of dive deep into what works for you and what you guys need. So, as always, you want to be seen and heard. I'm just going to recap a little bit about what we covered in the last couple of webinars. There's 1.8 billion websites on Google. There's 50 million Facebook pages. Some of you are watching me on Facebook right now. You know, that's a. There's a lot of pages out there, but there are 3.5 billion new Google searches each day, and there are only 200,000 active podcasts. That means people posting and putting up new content all the time. And that's English speaking as well. And that's a pretty small pond to be working in and think about when you are have a question. When you have a burning issue, you Google it. Maybe you go look for a book, but maybe you also go look for a podcast. Right? Edutainment. That's what I like to call what we're doing here. And that's part of our strategy for finding good guests too. We want them to be edutaining as well, so we want them to provide some education value. This is Tom and I. He's my partner and husband in this business. And you can find us on all of these podcasts that are here. You can also find us in a course on the on the Harvard Business Review. And you can find my column in Inc. So these are ways to get in touch with me and way to listen and learn more, especially feed your brand, which is the podcast for you digital marketers and podcasters out there. So you had an assignment last week. Hopefully you've done it. You were to listen, watch and read your competition. You were to check the keywords, boy, I can't talk today. Check the key terms and words on places like Google. Answer the public. There was a bunch of other places we talked about Google trends. And then you were to make a topic list. And I told you also too, while you were there listening, watching and reading was to also start making an ideal guest list. Start to think about people you could invite that you already know, but also people who your competitors may have touched base with or people who are similar to them and add them to your guest list. So we're going to use that today as the basis for what we're going to do going forward. So a guest strategy. Why? Why do we need guests? Well, because you need more fans and you can't just rely on your fans telling other fans that it's just slower. Right? So we want to use other people's audiences, right? That's a faster way. So if they already have the fans that we, we want to tap into that and connect with them and inviting them on as guest is a great way to do that. You also need more authority. So you want to be associated with someone who is of higher value. Right. To the marketplace or to the fans that you're looking to achieve. So thinking about it this way, if you want to become a celebrity, this is more of the Oprah effect, right? Oprah got herself above all of the celebrities. She influenced. She interviewed. She had higher influence as the interviewer. She had more connections. That audience belonged to Her. So eventually that's what we want to do. But sometimes we have to associate ourselves right up next to those that have more authority in the marketplace. So we want to bring them on and put ourselves side by side with them and transfer that authority to us. So that's another reason why you may want a guesting strategy. Plus, you need to market network more. Who doesn't need to network more, Build more relationships? I like to use my podcast to help me continue to make sure that I'm touching base with all of those people in my network or expanding my reach beyond my network. And so I use it as a strategic networking opportunity and a relationship building opportunity. So that's one of the strategies that you can employ as well. It can also help you get more fans and stages. So this may also be a why? Why? Because when I have a podcast, when I'm utilizing my podcast, when I'm interviewing, when I'm these things, I am putting myself in a place at which I show event planners that I can carry an audience, right? That I can continually and consistently and constantly deliver them content. And so they know that that will provide them value outside of the event. And that's really important as well.

Oops, I leaned off of it. There we go. So raising our authority, right? And you know what? We're not going to make giant leaps and bounds every year, right? If we feel, if you feel a little and you just need to raise your authority a few inches, a few good inches, right? Get a little taller in your marketplace, stand above a group of people, that's all we're looking at doing here. We don't expect to accelerate this without a tremendous amount of effort, time and money. So, you know, this is all we need, though, to separate ourselves from the pack under of which of competitors of which we are being held in right now or the comparison to them, right? We want to raise our authority above that. So it doesn't need to be major, just needs to be enough.

So let's talk about strategic guests. What is a good guest? What's a strategically, a strategic opportunity to have that guest on our show? What are they going to do for us? And just as importantly, what are they going to do for our audience? So strategic guests are good at sharing their audience, right? They want to share value, they want to share more. So we want to make sure that they're going to tweet out to share on Facebook, to post out to share on Instagram, whatever that is. They're good at sharing what they're doing, what it means what they learned, who they interacted with. They're good at sharing those things because their audience cares. And that means that their audience will also navigate to you and be attracted to you in the same way that they're attracted to that person. So we want to have a lot of sharing going on. We want to also make sure that we're vetting our guests and that they're also current. So in other words, if they have a blog, make sure they're currently posting. If they have a Facebook page, make sure they didn't quit it. 2015 or something like that. Want to make sure that they're not too busy to continue to do that sharing and continue to do that. Sometimes the bigger the celebrity, the worse they are at these things. And so these are things that we need to vet out. And we want to make sure that they can build your business, which means that they must be able to serve your audience. Right. They have to share something with them that is going to be of tremendous value to that audience, because otherwise, at the end of the day, it's not serving your audience, it's not going to attract the right people, and it's not going to build and serve your business. I either. So we really want to make sure they can do that. Can they add value? So we're going to first talk about vetting out every guest, because this is kind of, you know, sort of I'm going to take your list and we're going to screen it. So this is our first step that we do in taking a look at that list. So I do this when I'm going to write an ink article. When PR firms pitch me someone to be featured in my article, I do the same process. And I've taken this process and I've rolled it over and used it for our podcast guesting programs. And it's worked really well for me. So our goal is to use other people's audience. So we want to make sure they have the right kind of fans. So that's one of the reasons I told you to make sure you're listening to them, make sure you're checking them out, make sure you're watching their videos. These are also things you want to do with your guests. So we really have to check them out because we want to meet this goal of are their fans going to be the right people for us, or possibly the right people we may not know, and that's okay, too. But we're just like, look, this person is big enough. They do have a fan base. And I think because of their messaging or because of the way they interact with an audience. Their authenticity matches mine, and I think they might be valuable, and I think I might be able to serve their fans as well as gain new ones to my. So that's one of the things we want to do. So how do I do that? Well, first thing, I Google search. That is the first thing I do with everyone. Because at the end of the day, the big power in what we do at Brandcasters is to make sure that we're driving traffic to our website, right? And that comes from Google search. So we want to make sure that there's value in Google search. Are they Google? Are they able to be Googled? Do they come up on the first three pages of Google? Mostly on the first page. I mean, that's what your goal should be. They don't have to be number one and number two, because a lot of those are, you know, positioning things. But you want to see them on the first page at least. And you want to see not just their website or their name. You want to see content that they're putting out in that Google search. That's something that's important. So then I check that, of course, I click through it and I look at it, make sure it's current, make sure the links aren't broken, make sure it is, right? Really good content. If there's videos there, I do. What's the fourth thing on the list? I listen and watch, right? I go and I check them out to make sure that they're interesting, that they. That the content matches what I Googled and that matches who they are and who they say they are. Then I do a social check. I check their social media platforms. I check. And you can do that straight off their website because remember, most of them have all of the links on their. On their website, right? Here's my LinkedIn profile, here's my Facebook. And just go through and click those. Make sure they're working. Make sure that you. When you connect through them, you go, wow, they really are posting. They post pretty consistently. They post every week, at least, maybe daily in some platforms or another. And, you know, don't worry if they don't have all the platforms, because you know what I like again, sometimes I check Twitter, but I really could care less. I'm checking Twitter to make sure that they're not trolling people or harassing people or expressing opinions that would be outside of what I think would be relevant to my audience. That's all I'm really doing on Twitter. I could care less if they have a Twitter audience because it's not going to be my audience. Check the social media that matters to you most, but don't be afraid to check them all just to make sure that they're not putting out different Personas, because that matters as well. Then I actually go through and check their website, make sure it's current, make sure it's up to date, make sure they have a press page, make sure that they have a blog anywhere where they would be putting out information, and want to make sure that they're going to be able to put a link back. So they're going to be either able to put a blog post or a press page post and say they were on my show. That is something that I really want to make sure that they're current and that they do consistently. And this is. I get, I get a lot of PR firms who push people through and yet they don't maintain the website at all. And that is a huge mistake. I want to make sure that they say, hey, I was featured in Ink. And that it's going to show up, if not on their homepage, at least on their press page. And that's going to be a link back direct to the article. So I also check them and make sure they aren't just sending everything back to ink.com or to main websites. You want to make sure that they're sending back to the. The subpages because that is the most value for them, but it's also the most value for you as well. And then I really listen and watch and there are three things that I listen and watch for. One is that they're really, you know, their messaging and the way that they talk is a match for my audience. I want to make sure that they have something good to share. Number two, I want to make sure that they don't say the same thing on every interview. That sound bite kind of style is not something that I subscribe to. I do not want the same same thing on my show that's been on a hundred other shows. I've seen it done. You get it. I know immediately when they start talking. So I've learned to do my homework here and check it out before I agree to even interview them. So that's something really important. And then the third thing that you do is just make sure that they're really. That they have engagement. Like, you know, do you start seeing comments? Do you want to comment like it. Does it invite engagement? Like, I think that is something that's really underestimated in the terms of, you know, how we're, how we're putting out content today. If it doesn't really matter if it's as, you know, if it's different, as long as it's going to engage conversation, because that's going to be really important to your audience as well and it's going to draw the fans to do something with you. Right. And so we want to do that. So this is called a platform. Do they have a platform? Are all these things in line? And if they don't have this, then I don't want to interview them. They're not, they're not in a place where I think that they're going to add value to my show. Now, that being said, there's one caveat to that. If I think they're up and coming, could really have a platform in very short time. Maybe they're about to launch a book or something's about to blow up for them because they're a startup. Even though I've done all of these things, I make sure that they have good team, good practices behind them. And I talk about the making sure that they're going to put this on their website and we have a conversation about that so that it does build their platform so that the PR value that I'm giving them doesn't go to waste. And don't forget, you know, you are providing them press value, PR value and so you need to make sure they're going to take full advantage of that. And so I can help them grow their platform. And for that there's a lot of gratitude that comes with it and it does come back to you. So I do want to serve my relationship building and my community as well, my networking. So that's also a consideration for me. So I don't just shut someone down right away if I, unless I really feel that they're just, they really are just, you know, a lot of it's their ego and they don't feel like they don't need to do this. They're too big and their name's too big. You know what if they don't do this, it's not good for anyone. Does size matter? Size is not as important to me as engagement and the right fit fans. So that's what I say. The right fit matters more here. And when I look at that, I think about, you know, it's the fan that they are carrying or the users that they have on their membership site, if that's what it is. Or maybe it is just the engagement that they're getting, the comments that they're getting. You're like, this is a right fit for my messaging. This is a right fit for what my business is about. This is going to be a right fit for me. So that matters more to me than the size of it. Wouldn't we all like to be on Tony Robbins stage? Wouldn't we? In fact, Tony Robbins is on my list for next year of my getting on his podcast. So, you know, we all have our reach, right? So thinking about those things, it's like, yes, at some point size matters, but it's not the most important thing. And really assessing this fit should come first because if it's not a right audience, it's not a right audience.

And then it won't add a lot of value to you.

Remember to click out. So now let's determine share value because remember we talked about whether or not they could share. They do share. So let's talk about whether or not there's going to be some kind of share share value because we want to make sure we're not just doing the same thing as everybody else. So we skip the me too guests, right? The ones everybody has on their show. I like to skip them because they're show hopping, they're doing all of that. They tend to say the same things. It's not actually adding a lot of share value to your site because they're on a campaign of doing it. It's all about them. Those kind of guests are not my favorite. That's why I very rarely respond to unless it's a really good guest. Really interesting right fit for my audience. I rarely respond to people soliciting me to be a guest. I usually go out and reach out and ask people to be on my show. I prefer it that way. But, you know, if you're a relatively new show and you need to take all the solicitations, you know, just really screen them and really check and make sure you're not in someone who's on a campaign and you might be the first stop, but they're going to go on 20 other shows and say the exact same thing again and again. That's not going to serve you well and it's really not going to help because then they just, you know, they won't be a draw to someone coming in to listen to them on your show.

We want to make sure that they know how to share like they share properly. They don't just go, oh, I was here like that. They, they say, this was really great. I really Enjoyed being on this podcast, check out what they write, when they share things. And so that's what I like to do. I also then like to see do people then like it, engage with it, respond to it, congratulate them, whatever that might be. That's a sign of an engaged audience. So there is a lot more share value to what that. To what happens with that celebrity value. So this is my story about John Travolta. So I was on the City Summit stage, and I also do press behind there and write stories for them. Whenever they have a really interesting story that fits my column, I love to write about it. And they asked me, as I, you know, I was not expecting this. They said, John Travolta's team would like to have five media do red carpet interviews with him at the gala, and they want bloggers, and would you be one of them? And I was like, I don't really know if John Travolta has anything to contribute to a blog. My online columns about, you know, design and innovation. But, you know, why not? It could be cool. Maybe he could have some interesting insights. So I was like, yeah. And it's an opportunity to meet John Travolta. So I thought, okay, fun. So I'll do it. So I go on the red carpet and I interview him, and I don't get any. I get, like, what sounds like rehearsed answers. So I ask him, you know, you know, when you come off of, you know, a bunch of maybe, maybe not great movies, I was trying to be nice. Right? Of course. Really bad movies. And you have a dip in your business, and you have a dip in your business, and then you come back with something great and big. How do you know that you should take that risk and do this risky thing? And he said, oh, I don't like to take risks in my business. And he. He gives me this whole line about, entrepreneurs are too risky. They take too much financial risk, like this whole thing. And so I was like, what do I do with that? And so I was like, okay, well, let me flip to something I know he likes. Let me ask him a question about airplanes. And so I know he's passionate about flying. And so I asked him if he, you know, what he thought of 3D printing airplane parts. And I realized as he's answering me that he has no idea what 3D printing is. So now I have to lead him to the answer of telling him what it is and telling him why I think it's great so that then he could go, yes, yes. Oh, yes. And then answer it in a more. He's like, yes, I think that would be great because it gets more people flying, it keeps those remote airports open. And he. And he does get it at that point and he says something interesting. So I was like, okay, good. I made something out of this. Well, a week later, I'm on a radio show that was Inc. Radio with. And we're listening to. He was also on the red carpet. And so I'm listening to his sound bites from it. And his sound bite is about entrepreneurs not taking risk. It's the exact same sound bite. And after the interview, this is with Alan Taylor, who's a radio host. And I. Alan and I said the exact same thing to me. And I put it in my article. I'm going to have to strip that out because I don't want it to be the same thing as yours. And then right after that, I read it in an article in Forbes, the exact same quote. So here, now we all have the same thing. I'm the last one to post my article because mine was going out that afternoon and I had to rewrite the whole thing. There was no value in it. So here they are. They asked for bloggers. We get the same thing all the time. Not a great interview. I really managed to structure our article out of it. And when I share it, nothing happens. Nothing happens. When I post it, his team doesn't share it. They don't do anything. I made them look good and nothing happens from it. I didn't get any value from it. It was probably my business.