How to Get Big-Name Guests

Jordan: 0:00

Some indie podcasters dream of landing a big name guests to come on the show. And it might be easier than you think. I'm Jordan host a podcast and q&a, where we answer your questions about how to start, grow and monetize a podcast. This week's question is from Jenna.

Jenna: 0:21

Hi, my name is Jenna Duddleston, I am the host of Bar Talk with Jenna, how do you go about getting a big name guest? And what I mean by that is, you know, it's one thing to maybe have an email of someone who could help you. But what really helps set you apart from them just being someone who's annoying them in their inbox to I need to get my client, whoever this is on this podcast because they would be great. Also, a follow up to that would be is there like a directory, or a website that gives you list of like agents and people to reach out to so you're not just obnoxiously sliding into the DMS and throwing a dart down a black hole? Thank you.

Jordan: 1:04

Thank you for your question, Jenna. To help me answer it. I have invited back podcast strategist and host of Four Things for Your Podcast, Angie Griffith, thank you so much for coming back.

Angie: 1:16

Hi, Jordan, thank you so much for having me back. I'm so excited to be here. And shout out to Jenna. I know Jenna. She's in my Facebook group. And she's been on my podcast as a guest. And we actually met through my podcast, I interviewed one of her friends. And that's how we got connected. So just the power of podcasting and making friends and building community. Her podcast is fantastic. It's called Bar Talk with Jenna.

Jordan: 1:39

Awesome. Yeah. And she has asked the perfect question for you. Because you are so good at getting high profile people on your podcasts. I am so interested to hear what you do in order to achieve that. So I'm really I'm all ears. I'm really excited.

Angie: 1:58

Well, thank you very much. This is my favorite topic to speak on. So we'll try to keep it as short as possible today. I have like a 90 minute masterclass on this topic. So we're not going to cover everything just so everyone listening knows right off the bat. Yeah. And I do have over a decade of experience in the music business interacting with high profile clients, which obviously gives me an advantage. But I want to share everything that I know and try to help as many people as possible book their dream guests on their podcast. And to start answering the question, I always start answer to every question with asking, what's the goal of what you're asking? And so if your goal by getting big name guests on your podcast is because you think that it'll grow your podcast faster, it's probably not the best strategy for podcast growth, people just don't really care anymore. Celebrities these days are so much more accessible than they were back in like the 90s and early 2000s. All of the celebrities were in magazines, and you couldn't really access them unless they were on an interview. And so I imagine early days of podcasting, if you had big name guests on your podcast, it would grow your podcast faster, because people were really interested to hear what they had to say. But nowadays, if I have a favorite celebrity, or even a favorite strategist, you know, an industry leader, I'm already following their Instagram stories. I'm watching them eat breakfast, they're sharing their strategies. I know the ins and outs of their life. I don't need to go listen to somebody's podcast that I've never heard of to hear them regurgitate things that I've heard them say 1000 times. So that's the first thing I'll say is if you're using it as a strategy to grow your podcast by leveraging their audiences, there are better ways to grow your podcast. But if you're trying to have big name guests on your podcast for other reasons, for instance, the best reason would be because they're a perfect fit to serve your audience in a specific area, then great, there are so many strategies for getting them. So if you want, we can just dive right in.

Jordan: 3:53

I completely hear what you're saying about having intentionality behind inviting and I kind of feel like maybe that could turn not only your listeners off, but also like potentially the celebrities that are guesting on your podcast, if you have a podcast that is not necessarily relevant to what they are personally passionate about, or what they know, from their experiences. They could probably see right through that. I love what you said about if you're using celebrity guests as a growth strategy, because it's not authentic. It's not intentional, and a lot of people can see right through that and it's just not going to work. So not only is it not a viable growth strategy, but it's also going to make you look bad as a podcaster. That's really interesting what you said about that.

Angie: 4:42

Yeah, and as a listener,(just me personally, obviously) I didn't read the Bible on this, but as a listener, if my favorite podcast starts to interview celebrities, I kind of get turned off like I'll scroll through the episodes and if it's all these names that I don't even recognize sometimes like maybe it's a big Celebrities but I'm not familiar with them. Again, if there's not a reason for me to want to listen to that episode, I'm going to skip it and kind of be annoyed. Okay, so one of my favorite podcasts now I've been kind of binging it, because I recently gave it a chance is Smartless, which I'm sure a lot of listeners to this podcast are familiar with Smartless. It's one of the most successful podcasts of all time, but they interview celebrities, and their titling is just the name of the celebrity. So I never wanted to listen to the podcast because I was like, I don't care about I just don't care. If I cared about these people, I would go follow their social media, I would listen to their podcasts because half of them have their own podcasts, you know. And it wasn't until I listened to some episodes, and it's never about the guest with that show. It's the three hosts that are magical together, they have a magical chemistry. They're hilarious. And they make that show regardless of the guests. And so I trust that, even if it's a celebrity I've never heard of I'm going to enjoy the interview. Because the hosts have proved that they can hold the conversation regardless of who it is and keep it interesting and entertaining.

Jordan: 6:02

You know what's so funny is that is actually the exact podcast I thought about. And it's so funny that we just had like that like, same wavelength moment because they do they just title there. Yeah. So it's the name of the celebrity. And I was truly going to bring up how I actually scroll through their podcast-- it's a great podcast. I know it's a great podcast.--but if there's a celebrity I'm not particularly interested in, I will skip it. So for example, like I skipped a bunch of ones. And then I was like, "Oh, they did Reese Witherspoon. She's awesome." And so I listened to the Reese Witherspoon one, and then I didn't listen for like five more episodes. And it's like you said, you know, it's not a great strategy for them, because they're not titling their episodes to what is actually being spoken about what is actually interesting about the episode content itself.

Angie: 6:57

It is almost like a crutch. But obviously, they're doing something right. You know what I mean? Because their podcast is so big, we can go and talk about all the things we do differently. But at the end of the day, they are blowing my podcasts out of the water.

Jordan: 7:09

Yeah.

Angie: 7:11

But again, it goes back to my point of, I don't listen to all of their episodes, either. If I don't recognize someone, I'm probably not going to listen to the episode. But I know that if I was on a road trip, I would be confident, just putting that podcast on autoplay, even if I don't recognize the name of the guest, because I know that there's a reason they brought them on there. And they're going to make it interesting. Somebody else who does a good job is Alex Cooper, Call Her Daddy. So she interviews not even as big of names as Smartless does a lot of the time, but it'll be big influencers and 9 times out of 10, I've never heard of the influencer. But I still find the conversations interesting and engaging. Because I can tell that Alex is really intentional about who she chooses to be on her podcast. She knows that they have a story that's really going to resonate with her audience. She's not just asking, oh, how did you grow up? And how did you get to where you are today? No, she has a specific reason why she asked that particular person to come on her show, because she knows that her audience is going to find value in the conversation.

Jordan: 8:09

That's such a good point.

Angie: 8:10

And that's what I tried to do. I have not huge, huge celebrities, but definitely some bigger names on my podcast. But I don't just bring any big name on my podcast every time I have a big name on my podcast, it's because there's a specific thing that I know that is going to resonate with my audience. And I want to share that with my audience. And then another reason why I like to have big names on my podcast is the overall strategy. Even though we hate to hear it, the you know, the bigger name verified guests that you can put on your pitch, the better it'll be received by that person on the other end. So it's all about positioning, branding, and your overall What's your overall strategy and game plan with your podcast. And sometimes, bigger names can definitely help in that regard. I have lots of tips. And just to keep it kind of easier to digest. I've broken it into three categories. So in my experience, there are three secrets. I call them the three P's of landing big name guests. And so it comes down to pitching, prepping and previewing. And so if we could just talk about each of those three categories, I think it'll give a comprehensive kind of picture about how I do it for myself, and how I recommend my clients do it. So the first thing to talk about is the pitch, which is the biggest, longest thing to talk about, because it's super, super important. And there are a lot of things you have to make sure to do. So there's really a 10 step process that I've kind of outlined. And so it starts with positioning branding, right. So prepare some kind of document. I know Jordan, you're a fan of this just as much as I am of having a really polished one sheet, just a one page PDF that tells exactly what is your podcast. What do you talk about, who listens, if you have demographics, put those on there. Who's the host, have a picture of yourself if that's something that you highlight your call contact info is huge. How do people reach you, your social media, everything that would give an overall presentation of what your brand is with your podcast. No matter how big you are, I promise it can fit on one page. I've worked with massive celebrities. And I promise you I mean celebrities that have been famous longer than I've been alive. And I can fit everything that's important on a one page. So you can do it too, with your podcast, I promise.

Jordan: 10:30

So true.

Angie: 10:31

Yeah. And then once your one sheet is prepared, Step two would be to seek out a direct representative and address that person by name. One disclaimer before you start reaching out for cold email contacts, which is fine, I've done it plenty of times. But if you have a relationship to leverage, definitely use that first. So for instance, I might have an agent, friend, even if it's not the agent who represents the client, maybe I have a friend who works at Creative Artists Agency, which is one of the biggest agencies booking agencies in the world. And I can say, Hey, I know you don't represent so and so. But would you mind connecting me with your LA counterpart who is their rep out in LA. And if you're connected that way, the email and the introductions and the pitch in general is going to be so much better received because it's coming through someone that everyone knows interest. So that's definitely the best way. And then another way is say you have a podcaster friend, we all go to lots of podcasting conferences, we meet a lot of people we keep in touch, we build relationships. And the reason we build those relationships is because I don't want to say we use them, but we use them, right. So if you met a friend that you've kept in contact with, and you've built a relationship, and that friend has interviewed your dream guests on their podcast, then again, if they trust that you'll manage that relationship, well, they're probably be happy to introduce you. So definitely leverage your existing relationships. And then if you don't have existing relationships, that's when you start to hunt down an email address. So best case scenario for your dream guests, you're going to seek out their publicist, their manager or their booking agent. That's like best case scenario, if you can find those contacts, that's great. Next best will be going to their website trying to find a contact us form, or an info at email address, I definitely would prefer to send an email rather than use a forum, I just think it's always better received. And then last resort would be to if you can't find any email address, then slide into the DM's (or similar), like some way to contact them via social media. And just get scrappy, it's 2022, we can always find a way to contact a dream guest. Whether it's a brand you know, you're trying to reach the head of a brand or you're trying to reach an industry leader or you're trying to reach a celebrity, whatever it is, somebody has a DM that you can slide into. But the one thing I will say the caveat to sliding into DM's; you don't send your pitch in the DM, you keep it so short, so sweet, make it really easy for them to respond and just say "hi, I'm looking for the best publicity contact for such and such, would you mind pointing me in the right direction?", and usually they're going to be able to give you an email address. You can also oftentimes find an email address on somebody's Instagram profile, there's an Email button, if you just click that you can usually find an email address. Step three is you reach out with a very clear and informative subject line. And my secret is to put the word"invitation" at the beginning.

Jordan: 13:24

Oh interesting.

Angie: 13:25

You don't want to put"pitch". Yeah. So I always say"invitation, colon, name of the guest, the name of the podcast and the host". So it'll say like, for instance, "Invitation: Kelly Roberts, How to Be a Boss Podcast with Jessica Cotter", very easy to digest and understand the person getting that email address. Let's say it's a manager or a publicist, they get an influx of emails in their inbox, okay, like constantly. So they don't want to have to guess who is this person? And what is their email about like, make it very clear what it is, then you're in your email, make sure you introduce yourself. So hey, pleasure to meet you. I'm Jessica Connor, I host how to be a boss podcast. Step five. This is super important. You want to make sure you articulate why this particular guest is super important to you. So this is something that it is going to take some time and thought. And you're not going to do this for every single guest. But if this is someone you're really trying to get on your podcast, and it's somebody that's a bigger name that gets a lot of requests take the time because your pitch is super important. So I might say something like, "I've been following your unique and life changing principles of marketing since 2010. When I picked up your book marketing like you mean it from McDonald's party room manager to seven figure empire in the Nashville airport. I read the entire book on a flight from Nashville to LA and I've equally enjoyed all three books that you've released since then". So in saying something like that, you're saying, "Hey, I read your book, I was impacted by it. I've read all of your books and you are someone really special to me." Right?

Jordan: 14:54

And it gives like a personal touch to it. You have personally improved my life because of this.

Angie: 15:01

Exactly. And then step six is saying, what do you talk about on your podcast? Like, why would they be a fit for that? Then the next step is to make sure you clarify what qualifies you to be speaking on this topic. And so you don't have to be some world renowned guru or an expert to host a podcast. I'm not saying that at all, you can totally get creative. So for instance, my podcast, I'm empowering podcasters, to chase big dreams to think outside of the box and to have bigger goals for their podcasts, right? I'm not saying "Hey, come on my podcast, because I'm the biggest podcast guru there ever was". I'm just saying, "Hey, I'm trying to learn all I can about podcasting and achieving big dreams so that as I grow, my audience can grow. And that's just as powerful as having 15 years of experience as a podcaster. Right. It's just how you word it. So just get creative and really articulate what it is that qualifies you, right. And obviously, every podcast is going to have a different pitch. But I'm just saying, like, figure out what it is that you can share and get really creative. Step eight, is give the actual invitation, and a little brief snippet about what you plan to talk about during the interview. And when you do that, just make sure to let them know that you're flexible to their preferences. So again, you always want to make sure that they are in the driver's seat, when it comes to the topic, you want to do your due diligence to give an idea or two. But at the end of the day, if they're writing a book that you don't know about, and they know that they want to lean into a certain topic and sharing that book with the world, let them know that you're open to anything, if this is somebody you really want on your podcast, obviously, it still has to fit for your audience. But

Jordan: 16:36

that is such a good point. Because you don't know what's going on in their lives. And maybe they have something that if you had reached out to them and said, like, hey, I want to talk about your performance in this TV show or something like that. But they're actually already working on this other TV show. And that's all news, they don't want to talk about that they want to talk about this. I think that's such a great idea to like, kind of improve your chances of them not being like, oh, that's kind of like old news. That's a great, great point.

Angie: 17:04

And just as an example, again, in the same, this is all the same email, I'm basically what I'm pulling from as a template I've created and this is like one of the email templates. So the next line in this email would have been something like, what are your current projects and initiatives, and let's like highlight those, I always lean into that language. And then Step nine, close the email and make sure to attach that one sheet don't hit Send without actually attaching it.

Jordan: 17:30

Right? So no, read it,

Angie: 17:33

reread it, read it a third time, make sure everything's attached, and then hit send. And then step 10. It's after you hit send, but it's equally as important is the follow up, right? Sometimes you won't get a response. And that's totally fine. Right? And it's okay to follow up. So I will say there are two general scenarios. So the first scenario is they say, Hey, thanks, we'll review and get back if we feel like it's a fit, okay. And sometimes that means we're never gonna respond to you. But sometimes that means they really did put it in a to do list. As long as you know, they got your email, just relax and do something else. And don't put all your eggs in one basket. But when you follow up, be strategic about your timing. So wait until you hear that they're announcing something so say so and so just announced a new book, that's a perfect time to reply to that email and say, Hey, I just noticed that you announced this new book, I'd love to circle back to get you on this podcast to promote it. If you have any time in your schedule. That's like a perfect way to follow up. It's not spammy or anything. And then I will say In the second scenario, if you don't get any response at all to your email, then I would say follow up a little bit sooner. No sooner than like seven business days, give it some space, give it some time. But when you follow up, I would just say something short and sweet and just say, hey, just making sure this was received. Let me know if you have any questions at all happy to answer. Like, you're not actually asking for a response. You're literally just saying, Hey, I just wanted to make sure this made it to the right person. So yeah, that's what I'll say about pitching, which is a lot again, it's like a 10 step framework, just kind of like broken down really quickly. Equally as important as the pitch is once they say yes, making sure that you have a great interview prepared, right. So like you do your homework, and I will say something that will save you a lot of time is requesting assets in advance. So when you're interviewing, let's say your friend, it's harder to request assets and advanced because normal people don't have like bios prepared right? Or like any like fancy assets like that. But when you're requesting somebody that's an industry leader or celebrity or even a big influencer, people who have been around the block a few times and they've been guesting on podcasts or they've been featured in articles or whatever it is. They usually have some assets prepared or a media kit. So when you're preparing for your own interview, right, you're like thinking okay, I have to like research all this stuff about this person. Obviously you don't get crazy. But to help yourself out, there are four key assets that I recommend just asking for at the beginning. So number one is going to be the official bio. Usually, if it's a big celebrity, or somebody who's done this a lot, they're going to have a long version of their bio and a short version of their bio. And usually, that short version is something that's a paragraph or so. And you can use that for your episode summary, which saves you a lot of time and kind of preparing a short version of the bio. And you can also use that to pull your short three to five sentence introduction from because usually that short bio, is something that their team has intentionally chosen what to include. So it's usually top line highlights of their career. So that's going to be super helpful for you. And the other reason why you want to really request the bio and not just go find one from their website, even or Wikipedia, is because let's talk about a recording artist, for example, most recording artists, they have a new bio for every album cycle. So if it's an actor, maybe they have a new bio for every movie that's coming out. So if I were to go pull a bio from Wikipedia, it might not include that their most recent album just landed at number one, or they're single just went platinum, or whatever it is, there are certain stats that just it's like you're missing the mark, and they're going to be less excited to share it if you didn't remember to say something really cool. that had just happened. So that's really why even though you're thinking don't look stupid, asking for a bio, when all the information about them is online? No, and their team is going to appreciate it because they go back and they make sure Oh, yeah, this did just land at number one last week, let me just throw that in there. And then they send that to you. So definitely ask for the bio. I also asked number two would be talking points with regard to any current projects or initiatives. And it goes back to the point we're talking about earlier is you want to make sure that you know if they're working on something that hasn't been announced yet, so you can bring that up on the podcast

Jordan: 21:56

That is so fascinating. It's so funny, because, you know, for me, you already know this, like, you know, it's like obvious to ask for talking points. But for someone like me who I've never reached out to like any sort of like high profile guest or anything like that, for me, I would be concerned that I would come off as unprofessional, if I requested talking points. So I think that's really cool that that is actually something that you should be doing.

Angie: 22:24

And they appreciate it because they want to talk about the new stuff, they don't want to focus on the stuff that's already out there online, they want to talk about what they're working on what they're excited for. And again, someone who doesn't have a PR team is going to be less versed in this stuff. And maybe they don't have this stuff prepared. And if not, it's okay, then just research what you can. Even for like an industry leader, they could be working on creating a new course or a new membership that they're really excited about, and they're going into a launch. And you're gonna want to make sure that they're knowing that you know that going into it so that they're excited that you're going to ask them questions about that stuff. And you're not asking for questions that I should ask, I just want to clarify, I would never say like, what questions do you want me to ask you? It's not that you specifically say. And if you have any additional talking points about upcoming projects or initiatives that may not be publicly known online, I'd love to know about those so that I can craft questions around them. Yeah. And then the third thing you can request in advance, and you should request is their preferred promo photo if you're going to be creating any assets. Because again, it's all about the cycles. So for instance, a recording artist, they'll go create a new set of promo photos for every single album release. And they'll use those same photos through each release for the most part. And every industry is different, right? An actor is going to have a set of promo photos and you know, an industry leader is going to have a set of promo photos. But for the most part, most people know this if they're a podcaster. But you never want to just grab a photo from online and create a graphic, because that's the best chance of making sure they don't share anything at all right? If it's a, if it's a photo that's not on brand with their current project, then they're not going to share it. So definitely request, what is your preferred promo photo for any graphics? And then the fourth thing is, if it's a big celebrity, I don't do this with everyone. But if it's a big, big celebrity, or if there's a hot topic around that celebrity going on right now, I always ask proactively, are there any topics that should be avoided, because we all as podcasters, of course, we want to break stories, and we want to hear the juice about whatever it is, but you want your guests to be happy with the interview. And more importantly, you want their team to be happy with the interview so that they don't pull it because just because they agreed to record, it doesn't mean that they're going to agree to release it. And you also don't want to have a bunch of extra editing for you. Like if you would rather if you would have known that they weren't going to want that topic to be discussed in advance then you could have spent that time talking about something else rather than having to go back and edit it out. You just want to be like respectful of the relationship. This person's good They knew their time. So you don't want to trick them into anything. So if there's something that they don't want to talk about, just be really respectful of that and craft your interview in a way that doesn't even go there. And a good way to do that is just to ask upfront.

Jordan: 25:13

All of these points in the prepping is mutually beneficial for you as it is for the person that you're interviewing, because you're making sure that they're okay with everything you're going to be using in your podcast and everything for the promotion of your podcast. And at the same time, it's actually making your prep easier, because you have the bio to help you with your introduction with your show description. You have the talking points to help you craft your questions. And you don't have to like do all this legwork of trying to like research and stuff like that. And it's just like this really nice little wrapped up package. And I love that I love when things are mutually beneficial. All of this is so great.

Angie: 26:00

It saves me so much time. And the only prep that I really do beyond that. I mean, obviously I think of questions and stuff like that. But as far as research prep, the only prep I really do beyond that on a consistent basis is I'll pull up their social media, usually it's Instagram that people use the most these days. Yeah. And I'll just see like, is there anything maybe like they just announced they got engaged, or they just had a baby like personal things that you can kind of like bring up in academic conversation a little bit better, I won't do a deep dive, I'll just kind of scan what the recent posts are just in case anything pops out at me. And then the other thing I'll do is if they are promoting a book, I'll take the time to usually listen to it on Audible, which is a big step. But I just do it just like I'm listening to podcast episodes is built into my routine. And it makes the interviewer so much better. When they know that you read the book, you don't you didn't just read the Cliff Notes. Like you can go in and say, Hey, I really enjoyed this one line you said about this story about your dad that just really stuck out to me. And that's just going to make them feel really special and happy and just make the overall interview a better experience.

Jordan: 27:06

I've actually heard that from so many late night show hosts and stuff like that. I'm trying to think of who it was. I can't remember if it was Jimmy Fallon or David Letterman, but one of them was talking about how he actually does read all the books because it's just it's noticeable. Like you can tell when someone has not read the book. And they're just like, oh, yeah, like, here's your book. Now that I'm thinking about it. That sounds more Jimmy Fallon. So I'm thinking maybe it's David Letterman, actually. Now that I'm kind of like hashing that out, in my mind, it's

Angie: 27:37

time consuming, but it does make all the difference. Or if they did, if they just released a movie, like go watch the movie, like, whatever it is, if this guest is super important to you go the extra step. It'll make such a better interview.

Jordan: 27:50

I think if you if you do listen to their audiobook on Audible, you can put it at like 1.5 or 1.75 speed, right?

Angie: 27:58

I've definitely done that. Yeah. One more thing I'll do because I interview a lot of podcasters. Yeah, so I won't have a podcaster come on my podcast if I've never listened to an episode of their podcast, so I'll definitely go and listen to their podcast, too. Yeah, at least one episode.

Jordan: 28:14

I've had that before. Before I started working with Buzzsprout. Yeah, you know, with my bedtime story podcast. I've guested on other podcasts where it was so funny, because it's podcast about podcasting. And yet, they never listen to my podcast. And so I'll say something and they'd be like,"Oh, really?" and I'm just like,"that's the basis of my whole show".

Angie: 28:35

Right? And that's the thing. Like, you don't have to listen to every episode. But oh, yeah, just just want to know, the basic trailer,

Jordan: 28:42

even is fine. Right? The trailer. So just the basic amount of work possible is totally fine. But yeah, it's so funny. And, you know, it's not necessarily like a turn off for me as a guest on another podcast, if they haven't listened to it. Like I said, like, I don't personally care. But I think if like, I had written a book and launched it, and I was going on to a show to promote my book, and they wanted to talk about my book, I would hope that they would have done their homework a little bit. So yeah, I think that that's really important.

Angie: 29:16

And one note to add to that. It's different if, say, I'm a big podcaster. And I'm kind of doing someone a favor by having them on my podcast to talk about their book. That's kind of a different story. What I'm talking about is if I'm Angie for things for your podcast, and I'm asking this huge influencer to do me pretty much a favor by coming on my podcast, because let's be real, my audience isn't gonna make or break them. It is my responsibility as the podcast host to read that book or to listen to their podcast and to really do my due diligence to prepare. Obviously, the smart list guys, if I wrote a book and they're doing me a favor, and they're like, Angie, you can come on our podcast, I wouldn't expect them to read the book. And as a matter of fact, I would Personally prepare cliffnotes for. So there is a difference.

Jordan: 30:03

That's true, that's true.

Angie: 30:09

And then the last P is previewing, which is an unpopular opinion of mine in the podcasting industry, especially the indie podcasting industry. But I stand behind it times a million, because it has served me well. And what I mean by previewing is making sure that your guest has a chance to review all of the assets before they go live. So what I do is I consolidate all of the final assets into a dropbox folder. So it'll be the final edited interview, it'll be any promotional materials I've prepared. And it'll even be the show notes with links, everything that's ready to go, I put it in a dropbox folder, and I make sure to give their team usually a few days, if not a week, at least, to sit with everything and review it. And that really just makes sure that they're going to share the episode, it's for my benefit. So if I were to publish it, and not give them a chance to preview it, and it went out, and they're not super excited about it, but it's nothing horrible. But like in a perfect world, we would have just cut five seconds out, they didn't like how they said something, I would rather know that before publishing it. So that then I know they're thrilled with it. They've heard that episode, their teams signed off. And so when it goes live, they're just going to be able to share right away, I can say, Hey, your team's already signed off, feel free to share. And it really does save me a lot of anxiety on the day I publish. Because I don't want to be wondering if they're happy with it. Like I want to know they're happy with it. And I want to know that everything's approved, and they're excited to share it. And I even do that. And this is where the unpopular opinion comes in. But I even do that with smaller guests. I give all of my guests the opportunity to review their episode in advance. And I know some people come back and say, Well, some people aren't used to guesting on podcast, and they don't like the sound of their voice and they're gonna make me scrap half of it and blah, blah, blah. Who are you asking to guest on your podcast because everyone that I've asked to guest on my podcast, I trust that they're going to trust me. And they're even if they don't love the sound of their own voice. I've never had anyone come back and asked me to like scrap an episode. I've had one person come back and say, Hey, do you mind editing out this five second spot, I just I shouldn't have said that about my former employer or something like that. And I was happy, I was happy to edit that out. Even though it did take me like an extra 10 minutes or something. I was happy to do that. Because then I knew when that published, she would be so happy to share. And even if her audience is smaller, that's a significant audience. And I want those people to hear it. And I want her to be excited to share not only on release day, but to continue to share that episode and to be excited every time she does. So sharing it in advance has always served me well. And I recommend doing that

Jordan: 32:45

I have seen so many people in the Buzzsprout like Facebook community group say, Oh, this guest wants to listen to the podcast before it drops. But they're scared that the guest is going to steal the episode and distribute it themselves or they want like a copy of it. I cannot tell you how many times I've heard that. So

Angie: 33:06

it's something that people are really precious with their podcasts and I get it 100%. And especially when I first started for things for your podcast, there's one specific scenario that really sticks out to me is I had a guest on it was one of my very first get it was my very first guess it was a video teaser. And I was so proud of the video teaser, I think I made three different video teasers, and they were just so good. And I spent way too much time on them. And I asked him if he would do a collab reel, which for everyone listening, if you're not familiar, instead of regular tagging someone on your Instagram reel, you have the option to tag them as a collaborator. And that means that it shows up on both of your feeds, and you're able to share engagement, meaning that you get double the engagement. And if they have a big following, you get way more engagement than you normally get. He was like, Yes, I'll do a collab, I'll be a collab on all of them, whatever you need. He's like the kindest guy ever. And then he asked me, I can't remember if it was before I had actually published the reel or after but he was like, Hey, do you mind sending me the raw file, so I could just post it on my own as well. And my response was, I actually would love it if we could just keep the collaborative so that we can share engagement because at the same time I'm trying to grow my podcast, I'm also trying to grow my Instagram, I would just rather keep it all consolidated. And that haunts me to this day, because I'm like, Angie, the more marketing the better the more people can share and promote your podcast, the better let the word get out about your podcast, and I regret that you're learning every day as a podcaster. And that's a lesson that I learned early on and I want everyone else to learn from that is like, don't be so precious with your podcast content. The goal is to grow your show. So the obviously within reason, but the more that you can get it out there, the better it's going to be for you in the long run.

Jordan: 34:46

When you told me he asked for the raw file. I literally felt like a pit in my stomach podcaster like just that Oh no. And so I see why People want to protect that. They want to hold on to it. But you're so right, you know, just let it go. Just let them share your voice. Let them share your content.

Angie: 35:10

I did have a woman Keisha, get married on my podcast recently. Her maiden name is Keisha Fitzgerald. She is a Buzzsprout user. Her podcast is called empower her. It has like 6 million downloads. She's amazing. But her team after we recorded, her team said, Hey, can we have the raw zoom files? Because we might be able to pull some stuff for like, Instagram content from there. And if this was early on, in my podcasting days, I would have probably said no, because I'm so precious with the final product that shared with the world. But I was thrilled. She has way more followers than, like, Yes, take my RAW files, do whatever you want with them, I trust that she will do a good job presenting us to the world, you know, and so it's like helping me to use those raw files, please take them. I know Jenna's question was like pretty comprehensive. So like to recap, I would say her first question was, how do you book big name guests for your podcast, and I'll say the three P's. So intentional, pitching, prepping and previewing. And then she asks, what really helps to set me apart versus being annoying in their inbox. And what I will say to that is, be cool. Like, again, don't put all your eggs in one basket, be really respectful and really excited and like really intentional and show them that they're special. 100%. However, don't be constantly following up and don't go into it saying, If I don't get this person to say yes, then my podcast is going to suck, because that's not the case, like just move on to the next one. Maybe if they don't come on right now, maybe once your podcast grows a little bit, you can go back and circle back and say, Hey, I know it might not have been the right fit at this time. But I just wanted to send you the updated version of my one sheet I've had these guests on, it's been amazing. It's grown, blah, blah, blah, like you can always circle back right? When you have guests that you're scheduling on your podcast, you're going to be having a lot of conversations going on at the same time. So you're scheduling, you're rescheduling, you're pitching, you're waiting on responses. It's really important, at least for me to keep a spreadsheet of every single person that I've reached out to or that they've pitched to come on to my podcast, I keep one spreadsheet, and where we stand in every conversation, even if they politely pass or they say not right now come back to me later. Or maybe I politely pass when somebody pitches to come on my podcast. The reason it's so important to keep a spreadsheet is because once you've been podcasting for a while, that list is gonna get very, very long. And what you don't want to happen is you reach out to somebody who you either earlier declined, you know, without acknowledging that you earlier declined, because you just forgot. Now all of a sudden, they have more followers than you and now you're interested how embarrassing, right? So just keep the spreadsheet for stuff like that. And also, so you don't reach out to the same person twice. Like how embarrassing would that be? Yeah, like without acknowledging like, Hey, this is a follow up like, oh, no, I just forgot that I had already reached out to you because you will forget over time. The list is long. Trust me, it gets long.

Jordan: 38:16

I always love a good spreadsheet.

Angie: 38:21

Oh, do I have so many spreadsheets. I have more spreadsheets than I want to admit. And then Jenna also asks, is there a directory or a website with contact info for managers and agents? I don't know of a directory, it would make all of our lives a lot easier. But also it makes it so that if you know the strategies, you're gonna be able to get the guests. It takes a little bit more work. But there are a couple of tips. So actually, I recently had on entrepreneur podcaster named Julie Solomon on my podcast and her podcast is called The Influencer Podcast and she teaches influencers how to pitch their own brand deals. And she actually gave a really amazing tip. And she said that if you search just in a Google with quotes for immediate release, and then the name of whoever you're trying to get, then the most recent press releases will pop up and in press releases, you can usually find a publicity contact. I thought that was a really good tip that she shared it. Uh huh.

Jordan: 39:16

That's genius.

Angie: 39:18

Another tip that was shared on my podcast by Ariel Nissenblatt, I love Ariel. Yeah. For everyone listening. She's the community manager at Squadcast. She also has a couple podcasts of her own. And she really hones into like the marketing space for podcasting, but she shared a trick. So if you can find the RSS feed, say you're want to reach out to a podcaster. And if you can't find contact info, if you can find their RSS feed, which is usually pretty easy to find through the hosting platform website. So I know unlike the Buzzsprout page, it'll list all the different directories and you can just click usually there's one that says RSS link. So if you take the RSS link and you put it in a browser, and then on a Mac, command + option + U to view the page source, and then you copy that into, I usually copy it into a text edit. But you could copy it into a word doc or whatever. And then you search in the text file and you search the@ symbol, you'll find an email address.

Jordan: 40:16

Okay? All right, I'm gonna do this. I'm trying it right now with my own podcast. Okay, so I'm gonna click my RSS feed. And then, okay, so I'm gonna paste it in here. So find and then @ symbol, oh, my goodness

Angie: 40:34

Did you find it?

Jordan: 40:35

Yep, I found my email address.

Angie: 40:38

It's such a genius tip if you're trying to reach any podcaster. And obviously, the people that email address that people use for their hosting platform might not always be the best, but at least it's something to get you started right.

Jordan: 40:50

That is so smart. Wow.

Angie: 40:53

So those would be my two tips for if you have to get really crafty to find email addresses.

Jordan: 40:59

Yeah, those are sneaky. Yeah. They're very sneaky, like you talked earlier about, like, just really getting scrappy. And maybe Yeah, your your claws are out there. We're getting scrappy about finding the information we need. I love it. All right. Well, I think that that wraps up this episode of Podcasting Q&A. Andy, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Again. Your insight is always so appreciated. So I thank you for taking time out of your day to join me on this.

Angie: 41:31

Thank you so much, Jordan, I appreciate it more than you know. I love Buzzsprout I'm so happy to be here anytime.

Jordan: 41:39

I hope this episode of Podcasting Q&A has been helpful to you. If you have a question you'd like us to answer on a future episode, go to pod inbox.com/buzzsprout or click the link in the show notes to leave us an audio message. And as always, Keep podcasting