by Ashley Williams | Featured Contributor
“You get a podcast! You get a podcast! Everybody gets a podcassstt!”
Do you hear that? It’s the sound of everyone and their next door neighbor launching a podcast. Even the Queen of television herself Ms. Oprah Winfrey has recently jumped into the podcasting game with her SuperSoul Conversations which repurposes old SuperSoul Sunday interviews for people like me who prefer to listen on the go.
If you’re an entrepreneur you’re probably starting to catch on to the fact that podcasts are not a passing trend and that audio is one of the most intimate ways you can connect with potential clients.
With well over 400k podcasts available, deciding where to invest your time to pitch yourself for a podcast interview can feel daunting and overwhelming.
Which is why I’m going to walk you through a few super easy steps to finding the right podcasts for you. I’ll also let you in on a trick to save yourself tons of time by only pitching shows that are a perfect fit for your brand or message.
Before you start digging deep with your search you’ll need to decide whether to go for big and broad audiences vs. smaller niched shows.
I know your first inclination might be to try and land yourself on one of the biggest shows out there like: The Tim Ferriss Show, The Chalene Show or Smart Passive Income.
Why? Because these shows are easy to find and some of your heroes have been guests in the past, so of course you’re going to feel drawn to them.
But here’s the thing, unless you yourself have both a huge audience and a super successful business on your hands these podcasts are still a bit out of your league.
Even if you’re making 7 or 8 figures in your business these shows are still incredibly hard to get on. I’m pretty certain Tim Ferriss doesn’t even take pitches, he mostly interviews friends, close colleagues or people he’s personally a fan of.
A show like Smart Passive Income is much more “get-able”, but still a bit out of your reach until you’ve got business success crew to justify him putting you in front of his huge loyal advice.
Don’t let that discourage you though!
Going on podcasts with such huge audiences can look great on your press page and will impress your colleagues, but do they actually put you in front of your ideal clients?
Maybe.
When you’re swimming in such a massive pond, chances are not every single listener is going to be interested in your topic.
A small percentage of a huge audience might be a little interested but on you’re missing out on the chance to speak directly to a highly engaged, incredibly niched group of people.
This is why I highly recommend looking for smaller shows who may not have 100,000 downloads per episode, but do have a dedicated following of fans that are perfect for you.
No matter your industry there’s a podcast niche for you. Anything from crafting and DIY projects, to treating anxiety, infertility or addiction. If you’re a business coach there are podcasts all about course creation, social media, being a work from home mom and on and on.
So how do you find these shows in the sea of hundreds of thousands of bright, sparkly podcast covers?
Follow this super easy process and you’ll soon be ready to start pitching to the podcast that’s ideal for you!
Let’s get started:
Head to the iTunes Store on your computer and switch the dropdown menu to “Podcasts”
Then in the Search bar you’re going to start searching a few names, digging deep into the podcasts you find and adding them to a list or tracking sheet.
Start by searching for someone doing similar work to you thats at the upper echelon of the industry. Search their name and look for the shows they’ve be on.
Next you’ll search someone in your industry that is not at the very top of the industry, but that is 5 or so years further along than you.
Depending on how similar your work is to theirs you’re probably not going to get on the same podcasts talking about the same topic (unless you want to do a rebuttal or counter point to what they talked about).
But what these searches will give you is a list of other podcasts listeners also subscribe to.
This is pure gold!
Dig through these other suggested podcasts and add the ones that feel like a good fit to your tracking sheet.
You’ll also want to make sure to search by category. Keep in mind that iTunes makes it insanely hard to find some of the smaller sub-categories, so you’ll really have to dig all the way down to the bottom of the screen on your computer (they’re not visible at all on mobile) to find more niched categories like “Alternative Health” or “Spirituality”.
Lastly you’ll want to search for round up blogs that highlight the best podcasts by category. Like this one or this one or this one. Get creative with your search terms and see what you can find.
Once you’ve got a whole bunch of podcast in your tracking sheet it’s time to start cutting out some of the shows before you start sending pitch emails.
Cool artwork or a catchy name doesn’t give you enough info to decide if the show is the right fit for you, your brand, and your dream clients.
Make sure to read the show description and scroll through past episodes to make sure they’re actually on brand and in alignment for you.
If you’re an outspoken feminist life coach, going on a podcast that calls it’s listeners lady-girl-boss-bitches would probably not be in-line with where you should be marketing yourself.
Or if you’re a die hard vegan, going on a paleo podcast doesn’t really make sense.
Don’t waste your time trying to convert people and instead focus on people who are actually speaking the same language you are.
I always tell my podcasting clients to listen to at least one interview on each podcast before they send a pitch. Sometimes the branding and even the show description can be misleading and it’s important that you get a feel for the show, the host and their interview style.
This information will also come in extremely handy when it comes time to write a pitch email and will save both you and the host a ton of time by making sure your pitching yourself to absolutely ideal podcasts whose listeners can’t wait to hear from you.
Do you have any other ideas for finding podcasts to pitch yourself to? Leave a comment below and we can all brainstorm together!
Ashley Williams is the host of the podcast Green Is the New Black and a vegan and political activist. Her very strange hobby is volunteering on political campaigns in states across the U.S. . Ashley loves coaching “quiet leaders”; typically introverts, empaths or highly sensitive women who need help setting boundaries, improving their self-worth and building the courage to lead in their own unique ways. She believes telling great stories is the key to changing people’s lives.
