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**(By Yann Ilunga) **In my last article, we looked at the Do’s and Don’ts of pitching yourself as a podcast guest.
In this post, we’re going to focus on what to include in the pitches you – or someone on your behalf – are going to send to podcast hosts.
(Sorry, But) It Isn’t About You
When I’m pitched by potential guests, assistants, or publicists representing someone, the common mistake I see them do is to make the pitch all about themselves.
In these emails, which are typically very long, they list the entire story of the potential guest, his or her awards, and so forth. The pet peeves I have with these kind of pitches can be summarized with two things: lack of research and having me do the work.
Oftentimes, I receive pitches for the 360 Entrepreneur Podcast, a show I hosted and that wrapped up in 2017.As soon as I see the title of that podcast in the email, I know the person didn’t spend a moment to research the show – otherwise, they would have noticed that the show isn’t running anymore (and hasn’t for well over a year).
As far as having me do the work goes, it’s more of a matter of the email not including information that would help me make a decision on whether the potential guest is a good fit or not.
So, What Should My Pitch Include?
While I don’t believe your email pitch should be a very long one, it’s important that it removes as much friction as possible (and decreases the amount of work the host may have to do) by addressing the following aspects:
- Who you are
- Why you are emailing the host
- What you’re an expert in and would be covering on the show
- Offer next steps for the host (if he or she thinks you’re a good fit, what’s the next step to make things happen?)
My Email Pitch Example
As discussed in my previous article on pitching, I never simply copy and paste the same email in each pitch I send.
However, my emails do rely on a well-defined structure:
- Who I am
- Why I’m emailing
- What I’m an expert in and what I’d cover on the show
- Next steps for the host (check my podcast guest webpage and, if I’m a good fit, pick a date and time for the interview)
An email I’d send to a podcaster who hosts a show I’d like to be featured on looks something like this:
“Hi [HOST NAME],
It’s Yann here - you probably remember me from Twitter (I’m @TheYannilunga), where I’ve been curating some of your content.
I was wondering: Are you looking for guests for [PODCAST NAME]?
As a podcasting consultant and systems strategist, I help business people drive people into their pipeline through podcast guesting, systems or podcasting.
On podcasts, I typically talk about podcasting, systems and podcast guesting – and would be thrilled to cover any of these topics from an angle you think would be of most value to your audience.
Here’s the link to my podcast guest webpage so that you can see whether I’m a good fit for your show: [GUEST WEBPAGE LINK]
If you’d like to give the green light, you can use my scheduler to pick a date and time that works for you: [SCHEDULING TOOL LINK]
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
Have a great day,
Yann Ilunga”
Making Your Digital Real Estate Work For You
There’s an additional thing you can do that will drastically increase the chances of hosts saying yes to your pitches – and this is something you can use even if you’re yet to do a podcast guest interview and are pitching yourself for the very first time.
It has to do with the way a podcast host’s mind works.
One of the things most podcasters strive for is the growth of their audience.
You might not have done a podcast guest interview before, but you may have an audience or community you’ve built through something like blogging, self-publishing, email, social media, or similar. If that’s the case, you should use that to your advantage.
Offering to promote the interview to your digital real estate (the following you have on the various platforms you use) is something that will make you a very appealing guest.
Every podcast host loves a guest who provides valuable content, shares relevant stories, and isn’t afraid to lay out a hand in helping promote the interview.
In your pitches, you can achieve this by simply saying something like:
“Once the interview is published, I’d be happy to share it with my community ([ENTER NUMBER HERE] in total, across different platforms)!”
Yann Ilunga is a podcasting consultant and systems strategist. He’s the host of The Podcaster Lab and creator of what Forbes dubbed “Podcast Community to Join”: the Podcast Growth Mastermind.