Are you thinking of starting a podcast? Do you already own one and are looking for ways to grow it. If yes, you should know that one of the many best ways to generate good content for your listeners is to invite influential intellectuals to your show. And having on the right guest is very important. These people hold the power to impress your podcast community, give it a decisive boost, and earn you some cash.
But these potential podcast guests won’t just appear on their own like that, which is why it’s crucial to know how to approach them for an interview, and luckily, getting in touch with anyone in this day and age is like eating a piece of cake. Getting their attention and persuading them to come, though, requires a lot of convincing and patience.
Keeping all this in mind, here are some tips you can use to invite someone on your podcast.
Tips On How To Invite Someone To An Interview.
Step 1- Save your time by researching your target guest.
When inviting someone for an interview, your first priority should be to perform research on them. See if they are the right person in your context. This can help save your time. No guest will bother with your podcast unless they feel it can help their brand get some promotion. Always remember, just sending out emails to random people without knowing their whereabouts will result in you being ignored. Is it not much better to just send in your pitch to someone with relevant content so that he or she may reply back?
Also, when considering guests, you mustn’t forget about the audience. Their’s and yours’s. Make sure to approach someone whose audience overlaps with yours so that the content you produce with them stays relevant.
Lastly, take notes of anything that is exclusive about them or their online activities. If you want to have someone on your show, you have to know something about them. And if you do your homework well and find something unique about the guest like, say, a controversial view on a particular issue or anything, you can make it up and invite them to talk about it. This can actually help you gain a lot of admiration from their audience.
Step 2: Work up a stimulating subject line.
So you have found your ideal person for the job and are about to send him an invite, that he’ll then open to see your pitch. But will he?
This is a big market with endless podcasters and other content creators who might be dying for that particular guest. For all, we know this person’s inbox could be flooding with invites and pitches. What makes you think he will open yours?
Well, for starters, other than your name, the subject line of your email is the only other information your target has to decide on whether they’ll open your message or ignore it like several others. So you have to make it perfect.
Now a proper subject line has to be direct yet intriguing. You don’t have to mention your podcast here, but you must connect with your potential guest. For example:
A subject line of an email that will probably stay unopened:
Please be a guest on my podcast.
This subject line isn’t just dull. It isn’t very comfortable. It’s like asking for help and without offering anything in return. It won’t be hard for a potential guest to ignore please like this, primarily if they have never heard about your podcast before.
An excellent and intriguing subject line could be:
Let’s help young content creators figure out their niche.
That’s a good subject line because it’s appealing and relevant (assuming your potential helps people figure out their area of perfection). It also suggests a shared goal and particularly mentions the target’s customer demographic (young content creators).
Step 3: Pen down an outstanding pitch
After you have crafted an intriguing subject line, the next step is to write a smart pitch.
Influential people receive dozens of pitches every day. Your pitch needs to be different and exciting if you expect their attention. This is especially true for popular personalities who can add a lot of value to your podcast.
Keep it warm, welcoming and brief. You will obviously be tempted to pack as much information in your email as possible, but that’s rarely helpful. You don’t want to bore your guest away just by reading your pitch.
Step 4: Guarantee a lot of value
As your potential guest goes through your pitch, they will naturally think and consider what they’ll get out of it. So you have to speak in terms of what you can offer them. And unless you can pay for their time, the best thing you can offer is exposure.
But let say you’re still a small podcast that can’t really guarantee much exposure; you can overcome that by targeting guests who aren’t in-demand by larger shows and media outlets.
Step 5: Take it easy and slow
After the above-mentioned steps are taken, you might want to ease up your pace and ask little by little. What we mean by this is that once you are lucky enough to find a willing guest and your interaction phase starts, you will have to take things slowly and ask for small commitments.
For example, inviting someone who has never heard of your show before may sound simple, but it asks a lot. They would definitely have some questions and queries over the email before they agree to record an episode with you.
So in your first email, your target should be to get a positive response, a ‘yes’ from the potential guest. You want them to take tiny steps towards you. You will take this ‘yes’ as an opportunity to email them again. This time you can give them a bit more information about the episode you are planning and their role etc. You can end this email with a friendly yet formal line like: “If you’d like to go forward to hear more, just reply with a thumbs up.”
You may want to go back and forth like this for a while in a simple, laid-back way, and once you feel that the guest is ready for the move, you hit them with a link to your calendar software to schedule a planning call or straight-up record the episode.
Step 6: Always follow up
But what if your pitch fails to elicit any response? Well, my friend, I say you follow up. After all, if you want someone on your show, you have to be persistent. Most people don’t understand this and don’t do follow-ups, as a result of which they lose potential guests who would have shown interest had they only been approached again. But you don’t want to do that.
If a potential guest doesn’t reply to your pitch in a week, email them a quick follow up. It could go as:
“Hello [name], I’m only following up with my previous email. I’d be honored to have a guest like you on my podcast. Please do let me know if we can collaborate on a project. Thanks!
And if they ignore you’re follow up, try other ways to approach them. They may not be socially active often or may have someone else filter their emails. Message them on Twitter or whatever social media account they use. You can also send a handwritten letter to their office if you really want to collaborate with them. But if they still won’t budge, then move on. Don’t let this bring you down; there are crowds of people out there who would love to be a part of your show. So just look for someone else.
Conclusion
Working in a social industry where you are regularly collaborating with others, never let self-doubt bring you down from reaching out. Just because someone has made it big in this field doesn’t necessarily mean that they won’t be willing to work with someone small. Wonders can happen if only you strengthen up, broaden your boundaries, step out of your league and ask.
