How to Become a Podcast Guest

On the surface, the standard advice is correct.  If you want to interview on a podcast, you must send a compelling pitch to the podcast host, and trust your message resonates with their goals, fits in their schedule, and appears appealing to their audience.

Sounds great…except, how do you find the hosts and shows that you can pitch to in the first place?

Statistics say there are now probably about one million podcasts, which should make for a massive opportunity for potential guests to showcase their skills.  After all, at that number, you are bound to find hundreds, if not thousands, of podcasters in your genre, talking to people about your topic, and looking for more.

Unfortunately that expectation comes up against a harsh reality.

How does it really all work?

Domination by the Popular

Podcasting is a rising information and entertainment platform with no formal structures or established reference resources.  Podcast shows are hosted by dozens of providers, and listed in dozens more directories.

Each show self-defines through a name, description and category.

But most podcast directories limit search results to the most ‘relevant’ podcast names, which means a directory search for a keyword like ‘entrepreneur’ will not return every podcast that claims to discuss this topic.

Instead the top, meaning most popular, podcasts are provided unlimited search result real estate, and all the rest are lost behind algorithms designed to ignore them.

The problem reaches far beyond Pareto’s 80/20 principles. In the land of podcasts, a solid 99.9% of podcasts are battling just to be discovered, let alone heard. And for those who want a chance to interview and share their message, this group is even more critically important.

A targeted podcast with a dedicated group of listeners is valuable to both potential guests, and potential listeners in that niche.

Searching for compelling shows to appear on, an author or entrepreneur with a book, course, product or service to discuss and promote; a future thought-leader with startling unheard information; or a rising influencer with extraordinary processes to impart, will keep seeing the same podcast names over and over again in search results.

And by definition, those same names are overwhelmed with requests, interview each other, and work behind sophisticated PR teams designed to keep them from becoming the targets of less-established players.

Since the podcast search engines only list the Top 100, sometimes 200, ‘relevant’ search results, potential guests must find an approach for discovering podcasters who may say ‘yes’ to an interview request. 

You need the shows more likely ranked somewhere from numbers 201 to 1,000,000.

So how do you find them, and obtain their interest to interview you?

1. Have Something to Say

Podcasting is an audio product.  People talk.  And for podcast hosts, the value in the talking comes from the information you are offering to their audience.

In all circumstances, whether you meet a podcast host in person, send an e-mail, or leave a voice message (yes, that’s a thing), you have to have something to say.

You must know why you want to be interviewed.

Are you promoting a book, course, software, product or service?

Are you promoting yourself because you have an inspirational or compelling story?

Maybe you want to publicize your own blog, podcast or YouTube channel, and grow your audience.

Begin the process of requesting interview AFTER you have developed your message.  You don’t have to have a canned speech or slick press release, in fact, it’s better if you don’t.  What you need is a compelling reason why you want someone to have a chat with you for 30 minutes or more.

A singular message also keeps you focused on the same topic and context for your pitch, interview applications, pre-interview conversations, and ultimately the interview.

2. Create Your Customizable Pitch

Once you know what you want to say, you must craft a compelling pitch – a reason why you would be a valuable guest message – to the podcast hosts.  One note:  Some podcasts are run by teams, and have an assistant or producer to vet potential guests.  Unless otherwise stated (which it never was), always address your pitch to the host.  However, be prepared to send a request to one person, and receive a response from another.

To get the host’s attention, you must write a pitch that captures your value in succinct and obvious sentences.  Some people claim this means short e-mails, but that is not necessarily true. 

You have to include information any host would need to know about who you are, and what you want to talk about.  They rarely need your whole bio unless your pitch is about an extraordinary life story. But you should have a one paragraph explanation of your message, product or service, and how it relates to their audience.

Within your standard pitch, make sure you leave room for customization.  As you will see below, researching the podcast provides an opportunity to learn where you may have common interests with your host.  You can mention these interests in your pitch.

Also when you customize your pitch, you will be relating your overall discussion concept to their specific audience.  This is a practice, not only to gain their interest, but also for you to ensure you are not wasting time.

If you look at the podcast, and the topics do not seem relevant to your topic, then don’t bother sending the pitch.

You also customize your suggested discussion topics.  Advice about writing good pitch letters always mentions ensuring you suggest discussion topics.  Surprisingly in my experience, few hosts referred to this information.  However, by including it, you are demonstrating that you have looked at their show, and know how they like to present topics.

In #7, I cover how to communicate to the hosts.  Some hosts have specific guest request requirements, and you will not be able to send your pitch as an e-mail.  But you will still need the same information that is already captured in your pitch to answer questions on a specific guest appearance request form.

3. Select Your Categories and Keywords

Before you begin to research potential podcasts, you must know the podcast category or keywords that you want to search.

This process is wide-open for questions, but you must start somewhere.  If you are uncertain where your topic falls, look at the category listings in Apple Podcasts, and select the one that is closest to your idea.

Apple Podcasts is considered the most reliable podcast directory in terms of both popularity, and ease of use. However this may change in the future, as podcasters begin to obtain exclusive programming deals.

The various podcast directories use different words for their categories, but the general concepts are the same.  If possible, select more than category.  As you will see below, your topic may cover more than one area.

You also need to select keywords because many podcasts put more detailed information in their description, and many directories also search by description.  You want the directory search engine to return any podcast that mentions your keyword.

In my case, I searched:  ‘entrepreneur,’ ‘entrepreneurship,’ ‘business,’ and ‘success.’  However because of some of the results I found, I also ended up being led to search: ‘startup,’ ‘side hustle,’ ‘action,’ ‘boss,’ and all variations of ‘boss lady.’

Do not try and come up with every possible category for every type of podcast your topic may be lurking in.  Search results begat search results, and you will find more than enough options as you keep going.  Select two or three categories or keywords, and move on. But you may find you need your own personalized selection criteria before you can decide.

4. Establish Your Parameters

Podcasters select their categories and name their own keywords. There is no standard definition or meaning for the same words.  To weed out those podcasts that you do not think are right for you, you have to decide what you think the words mean.  This action occurs simultaneously with #5, but some of you will already know where you stand on these terms.

When you look at categories, you may become quickly overwhelmed by the possibilities. Establish the parameters for topics you do or not want to cover.  You do not have to speak to everyone.  Nor do you have to feel that if you skip some, you are leaving an opportunity behind.

If there are topics you want to avoid, and the podcast description, episode titles or previous guests indicate you would not be a good fit, skip them. 

As you are about to discover, this search process has many roads.  Set the parameters within which you are most comfortable.

For example, you may not be able to decipher the podcast content if words like spiritual, inspirational, political, or religious are used. 

The question you have to ask is: would the podcast host want to talk about [my topic] within one of these contexts, or leave the discussion more open?  If you cannot determine which way the show goes, skip the show.

You may not know for certain if you are wrong or misread a podcaster’s intentions. But you will know whether you want the additional concern of a potential conflict, or inability to speak on a subject as the podcast’s listeners expect.

If you like the potential of the show, but you are not certain about the content, you can also always listen to a few episodes. But you may have to listen to several before you understand the content.  In that case, you have to decide whether or not you have time to listen to every possible show (see #7).

5. Search Podcast Names

Okay now you are ready to find some podcasts.

To find podcast names, you will be searching two primary sources – Google and podcast directories.

Through this research, I discovered there are at least 50 directories where a podcast can be listed.  And I’m sure there are many more.  The directories include every podcast platform like Apple Podcasts, along with other apps, hosting services, and other places where podcasts are listed.

Based on search results, I narrowed directory searches to the ones listed below.  I created a list of podcast names to research in source and category batches, and listed them in a spreadsheet, before going through the process in #6.

Of course, you can do a massive search up front for every podcast name of interest, and then get into details. I found searching in batches helped me understand trends.

In all cases, I was looking for a podcast that appeared to be relevant – based on the name – and I would continue the search into the details of the podcast through the method beginning in #6.

I searched each of the sources below for the keywords – entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, business and success – followed by the word ‘podcast.’

The search for podcast names – in descending order of results for all podcasts searched went like this:

Google Search

Google search was the best place to start.  I put ‘entrepreneur podcast’ in the search bar, and a long list of results came up.  An even better list appeared when I accidently hit ‘Google Images’ (who knew!). 

Many podcasts have similar names, and Google returned multiple podcasts for a particular search.  This is great for the searcher, and either valuable for a podcaster being associated with another, hopefully more popular name, or horrible because your podcast can become lost or confused with another.

Google Images

Google Images displayed rows and rows of podcast art with the word ‘entrepreneur.’  This proved to be an unexpected gold mine, but as noted in #6, a first page Google search result does not equal an active podcast.

Listen Notes

Searched for [keyword] podcast but free search ended at page 5 or 6 of 10,000+ results

Listen Notes and TuneIn are podcast directories. Both became extremely important to the research process for the same reason…the sites also display the podcast e-mail address.  This was huge!  But became precarious, as I’ll explain in #7.

None of the other 54 directories that I’m aware of provide the podcast e-mail address on the podcast show page.

TuneIn

Searched for [keyword], but search ended after X with no option to go further.

Castbox

Searched for [keyword], but search ended after X with no option to go further.

Castbox became the other directory searched because of the depth of the results for a requested keyword or category.

Apple Podcasts Listeners also subscribed to

These are the suggestions that come up at the bottom of the Apple podcast page of the podcast that you are researching.

Listen Notes recommendations

These are the suggestions that come up on the right side of the page for the podcast you are researching.

Instagram

Searched #entrepreneurpodcasts

Believe this was a suggestion from someone, but despite a handful of results social media did not prove to be effective because of the millions of posts for Instagram hashtags.

Host was Guest on another show

When researching a host, the website may show other podcasts that host has appeared on, which could be related to my topic. If a show looked relevant, it was added to my list. 

Show within a network  

Some shows are part of podcast networks of multiple shows. When the website led to a network, I researched other relevant shows. 

6. Find Relevant Podcasts

For each podcast name found through the researching in #5, the next step is to determine if the podcast is relevant for the topic you want to discuss.

a. Search each podcast by name in Google search. 

Make sure you include the word ‘podcast’ with the podcast name, or you may just receive a bunch unrelated blog posts.

If the podcast name is generic put the name in quotations “[podcast name]” so Google knows to search for the entire phrase.

Look at the results.  I rarely went beyond the first page of search results to look for a podcast, unless the podcast name generated multiple results for different, but similarly named podcasts, then I checked page 2 to see if there were more.

If no podcast of that name or similar shows up on page one, the show is probably dead (more on that later).  Move on to the next one on your list.

b. Find the podcast’s Apple Podcasts page. 

You can actually look at the podcast show page in any directory, but Apple Podcasts has some advantages.  The page displays the podcast description, AND the first three lines of the description for each episode.  This is helpful in trying to determine if the show actually has interviews, and the types of topics that are under discussion.

If there is no Apple Podcasts page, the podcast may be dead.  But I always checked for any podcast directory that showed up on the first page of Google search results.

c. Open Apple Podcast directory listing

Before moving on, check the last episode posting date!

This was absolutely crucial as I found out the hard way.  As noted above, over 2/3 of the searched podcast names were not relevant, and within that number the number one reason was because there had been no new episodes for the past six months.

I made up the six months threshold as my own criteria.  You will have to decide how long you believe makes sense for your category.  If your work is seasonal, six months might be too short.  But I decided if there were no new episodes, the podcast was over.

As I note in another post, this is an interesting question around how many active podcasts really exist, and also when or if a podcast is really over.  A podcaster may just be on a multi-year break!

If the podcast did not appear in Apple Podcasts, pick the first directory to appear in the search results, and follow the same process.  However, many directories do not provide the episode description which makes it difficult to determine if a show is applicable to your topic. Even if the overall description is long and detailed.

d. Read the description

The podcast description gives you an idea of the relevancy to your topic.  But the description is whatever the host says it is, which may not be transparent as noted above.

However the description is usually more applicable than the category, because the description should be an indication of the host’s intentions, and may even state if they welcome guests or intend to have guests interviews.

e. Check for interviews

Many podcasts are comments, discussions between hosts or observations, and do not actually have interviews.  On the Apple Podcasts page, if you think the description is a perfect fit, but there are no recent interviews, click to see more episodes, just in case.  However, if there are none, sadly you must move on.

You can also note immediately if every episode is 5 or 10 minutes long, there are probably no interviews.

f. Eliminate the non-relevant

If all the checks above point to a good fit, the next step is to contact the host, which begins in #7.

Unfortunately, more than 2/3 of the podcast names discovered in #5 turned out to be irrelevant for my purposes.

Here’s why…

Last episode more than six months ago

This was the biggest surprise in the research.  Hundreds, probably thousands of podcasts, continue to appear at the top of search results even though the last episode was years ago.  Because podcasts live forever (assuming someone is paying for hosting), the search results reflect this permanency, not date-specific relevancy.

For potential guests, this result is a nightmare.  Dead podcasts do not do interviews.  Because of this reality, the number one rule in relevancy research is to check the last episode air date.

The six months cutoff time is arbitrary, and does not necessarily mean the podcast is dead.  You can determine any criteria you want, and use it as a cut-off for whether or not you will continue researching the show.

No interviews

As noted above, make sure the show actually has interviews.  You are not going to research a show that has a history of only doing one-person short, commentaries.

Narrow topic

This issue is topic specific. Depending on your pitch, some podcasts may be too far niched down to fit your subject.  For example, if you want to discuss starting an online business, podcasts aimed at a specific industry, corporate life, or stories of personal struggle, are not a good fit. 

Also some podcasts are created for a specific population, ie. a business school, and only interview people within their community.

Non-English

Podcasters may have a title and descriptions displayed in English, but a show that is primarily spoken in another language.  In Listen Notes, you can see the podcast language on the show page. 

Surprisingly, the only languages where the display page was in English, but the show was not, were Hindi and German.  Perhaps this is because both of those languages are primary in countries where significant numbers of people also speak English.   Beyond that I have no explanation for this practice.  And since this was rare, I did not bother to check podcast language, and only discovered this information later, usually on the host’s website.

Could Not Find Podcast

This outcome was the most mysterious.  As noted in #5, the podcast names comes from a search result – so where did the podcast go? Even if a large percentage of podcasts are dead, the search result vibrantly lives on in Google or a podcast directory. 

However, if a podcast does not show up on page one of search results for its own name, chances are, even if the episodes are still around, there’s unlikely to be more information.

In some cases, only the name of the podcast, and the graphic, still exist in a podcast directory, and all other traces have completely disappeared.

No Contact Information

This outcome is included here because shows with no contact information actually took longer to research, and of course did not end up being contacted.  This was often disappointing, as I explain in #7.  Many podcasts that look awesome have no contact information available. 

One note, some of these shows may have social media contact information, but as noted below social media is not ideal for this process unless you are intent of reaching a specific host .

Potential podcast hosts can see information about how to rectify the no contact information outcome in Part 3 of this series.

7. Contact the Host

Once you have identified your relevant podcasts, you must communicate your interview request to the host.  To do that, you must find contact information.  With the exception of 7.a, the contact information you are looking for is the show or host e-mail address. 

Look for contact information in the following order:

a. Search for a website

Open a second Google search tab.

Keep the Apple Podcast page open so you can refer back to it for #8.  Search the podcast name again, and look for a website.

If no website, move on to #7.b.

If the show or host have a website, look for one of the contact options below.  Also, if available, look at the podcast page and about page for information that will allow you to customize your pitch as in #8.

Podcast Guest Interview Request Form

If the website has a specific podcast guest interview request form, you must use it.  When researching, this result is typically the best and worst option.  It’s the best because a specific form indicates that the host clearly wants to interview people, and has put thought into the process.  That’s admired and appreciated.

But a specific form is the worst because you have to abandon your carefully crafted pitch, and re-write your thoughts and ideas into a structure the host has created.  Re-setting your pitch to their questions may take a significant amount of time.  But you have to decide if you want to make the effort.

Standard Website Contact Form that specifically mentions podcast guests

Check the website contact page.  If the host specifically states that podcast guests must use their website contact form – use their website form.

However, if the standard form does not mention podcast guests, try the other methods below to find an actual e-mail address before coming back to a generic contact form.

Website e-mail address

Any e-mail address that does not specifically say what it’s for, ie. do not use the one that says ‘coaching clients contact me here.’  But do use the info@ or support@ or hello@, if that is the displayed e-mail.  You can only assume the request will go to the host’s team.

b. Listen Notes e-mail address

Listen Notes displays an e-mail button on the podcast page.  Usually, there is an e-mail available.  However, after an unknown number of uses, ListenNotes cut me off, and kept prompting me to sign-up for their premium service. 

Now the prompt is you have to login.  After I completed my 1, XXX researches, I signed in to Listen Notes to see if I could still get email and RSS.  The result was…

e. TuneIn email address

As of this writing, TuneIn still provided open access to the podcast e-mail address, if available.  If the podcast’s TuneIn directory listing did not come up in search, search again specifically listing it like this: [podcast name] TuneIn

If it still does not come up, the podcast is probably not listed in TuneIn.

f. Listen Notes RSS feed

As of this writing, Listen Notes was the only directory I found that provided access to the RSS feed, not the URL, the actual code.  If you look closely enough, you will find an email in the code.

This information is actually in Listen Notes’ own instructions (that’s how I found out about it), so it’s available to see, but who knows how long this option will be available.

One note about Anchor podcasts:  Anchor is a free podcast hosting service.  In the beginning of the research, if a podcast only displayed an anchor e-mail, I tried it.  But after never receiving a response, and also seeing some podcasts had a generic Soundcloud email (feeds@soundcloud.com), I concluded that some of these hosting services create a generic e-mail that does not go to a human.  I sent an email to Anchor to ask, but have not received a response.

g. Website Generic contact form

If no email can be found, but the website has a generic contact form page, then fill that out.

h. None of the above

If none of the methods work, and you do not want to go down the social media route, label the podcast with your ‘no contact information’ designation, and move on.

i. A Note about Social Media

The list of contact methods above does not include social media.  Some podcasters encourage website visitors to reach out on social media, but it is not clear if they expect to hear from potential podcast guests through their social feeds.

You can absolutely reach out on social if you think it’s appropriate.  This is a personal decision.  If you spend a lot of time on social media, you can put social media at the top of your communication approach, seek out podcasters to connect with, build a rapport, and then make the interview request.

But this is a longer process that may limit your ability to clearly pitch your idea.

For researching through social media consider:

1) Time: For the typical person hoping for a guest spot, the additional work (and potential for distraction) in wading through social media feeds would be worth the effort for those podcasts where you are absolutely set on making an appearance.  This may be true for your topic, and worth the time.

2) Limitations: You will have to determine if a social platform can accommodate your pitch.  Typically, you are word constrained, and the back and forth severely limits how you can present your message.  For some potential guests, social may be preferred to emails, to others it would be a strain.

8. Customize your Pitch

Remember the website reading you did in 7.a, and the Apple Podcasts page you left open so you could see the descriptions…now is the time to put that information to use.

Change and customize your pitch to include any information that may make an interview with you more appealing to the host.

Check the host’s background, where they’re from or went to school – do you have anything in common?

For the suggested topics, make sure you use a specific gender if applicable, and tailor your suggested talking points to their podcast.  For example, if the podcast has a lot of how-to episodes, try to see if you can make your pitch how-tos also.

9. Send Your Pitch

Remember how you left the Apple Podcast page open?  Make sure you write the podcast name and host name exactly as you see them listed in the directory.  If you want to avoid making a mistake, copy and paste from the directory page to your e-mail. 

10. Follow-up Immediately

If the host replies with interest, follow-up immediately with your questions, answers, comments, interview date confirmation or other relevant details.

If the reply is a ‘maybe,’ follow-up with the criteria that could make it a ‘yes’ – ie, I’ll reach out again in 6 months to see if your calendar has freed up.

If it’s an outright ‘no,’ send a thank you for replying.

If you receive no response, there’s no need to send a follow-up unless you desperately want to interview with that host.  Many podcasters know exactly what they want and who they’re looking for, and have no time to respond to every request.  Also some podcasters may take months to go through their e-mail, and you should give them time to respond.

Conclusion

This method for landing a guest interview on a podcast could be described as ‘brute-force.’  Researching and reviewing all the details before you even send an e-mail takes time and patience.

But by approaching the process this way, you gain incredible insight into the activity in your field, and realize where there is opportunity for more and varied voices in the podcast space.

Finding the podcasters at #101 to #1,000,000 introduces you to a broader audience, with diverse voices, experiences and knowledge.  You, your audience, the host and the host’s audience all benefit from valuable messages shared with more people.  Seeking out the 99.99% is worth the effort, to strengthen and expand your voice.

SUMMARY

1. Have Something to Say

2. Create Your Customizable Pitch

3. Select Your Categories and Keywords

4. Establish Your Parameters

5. Search Podcast Names

6. Find Relevant Podcasts

7. Contact the Host

8. Customize your Pitch

9. Send Your Pitch

10. Follow-up Immediately