Getting interviewed on podcasts is one of the simplest ways to drive warm leads and sales to your business.
Nobody knows that better than Diana Wu David.
By consistently appearing on podcasts that reach her ideal customers, she has sold thousands of copies of her book, Future Proof, and already driven $8,000 in sales of the Future Proof online course she recently launched.
Podcasts have been one of her business’s biggest growth channels.
Since Diana is a client in our coaching program, Growth University, I hopped on Zoom with her to chat about her approach to getting booked on podcasts, driving listeners to her website, and converting them into customers.
No matter what you sell online, you can use this as a blueprint to do the same.
Want my team to audit your business and pinpoint your 2-3 best growth opportunities like we did for Diana? Book a free Strategy Call and we’ll walk you through a step-by-step plan for scaling to $10k per month (and beyond).
Want to nail your first (or next) podcast interview? Download a free copy of our checklist, “5 Steps to Generate Warm Leads & Sales from Podcast Interviews.”
Plus, as an added bonus, you’ll also get a customizable email sequence template you can use to convert new email subscribers you get from podcast interviews into customers.
Get it Free FREE Download: Get our Podcast Interview Checklist + customizable email sequence for turning leads you get from interviews into customers.
In this interview, you’ll learn:
- 4:21 – 4 ways to find podcasts that your ideal customers are listening to
- 7:08 – The simple outreach script Diana uses to pitch podcasts on interviewing her
- 10:13 – How to use a lead magnet to convert podcast listeners into email subscribers
- 17:00 – How to ensure listeners will discover your product (this is key)
- 19:53 – Why podcast interviews continue to drive traffic and leads for your business months after they air
Resources:
- Get your free copy of Diana’s self assessment checklist: 11 Questions to Figure Out Your Future
- Get the first two chapters of Diana’s book, Future Proof, for free right here.
Want to Implement a Partnership Like Diana’s? Here’s Everything You Need to Know…
First, let’s look at the high-level mechanics of the partnership to understand how it worked.
Type of Partnership: Podcast Interviews – Diana pitched podcasts on interviewing her in order to drive warm traffic to her business, Future Proof Labs.
Before pitching any of the podcasts, she made sure they were likely to have a decent percentage of her ideal customers in their audiences.
She then tailored her pitch and the framing of the interview to fit each podcast’s typical subject matter.
During each interview, she promoted a simple checklist lead magnet to listeners in order to convert them into email subscribers:
The Results:
- Diana has added hundreds of new subscribers to her email list
- She’s sold thousands of copies of her book, Future Proof
- She’s already generated $8,000 in sales of her new Future Proof online course from leads that came in via podcast interviews
- The podcast interviews continue to drive warm traffic to her business long after airing
It’s easy to see why podcast interviews are so effective at getting your business in front of your ideal customers.
But there’s a right way and a wrong way to do them—so let’s dig a little deeper into Diana’s approach and see why they’ve worked so well for her.
“But Wait…Why Would a Podcast Want to Interview Me??”
It’s natural to worry that you’re not well known enough for podcasts to book an interview with you.
But trust me…you shouldn’t.
Sure, if you set your sights on the top 1% of podcasts, you’re going to be disappointed (Joe Rogan ain’t booking you, bro). But the other 99%? Those podcasts (I’m talking about the interview-based ones) are ALWAYS looking for content.
Diana said it best in our interview: “They are desperate for content, especially if it’s a weekly podcast.”
Constantly finding and booking guests your audience will be interested in is a massive chore for podcasters. It’s one of the reasons why many people start podcasts and then fizzle out after a few months.
When you send them a good pitch, you’re making it easy for them to scratch an annoying task off their to-do list.
How to Pitch a Podcast on Interviewing You
Diana keeps her formula for a good podcast interview pitch simple:
“I just say, ‘Hey, my name is Diana, this is what I offer, this is why I think it’s valuable to your audience, and I’d love to come on your podcast.’ Literally it’s that easy for a podcast.”
A quality podcast interview pitch contains 3 elements:
1. It gives your target an anchor.
Think of an anchor as a common point of interest between you and the person you’re pitching. It gives them a signal that you’re someone they can trust and not just some random weirdo on the internet.
That means you might:
- Mention a specific episode you liked and how it helped you
- Mention a positive outcome you’ve experienced as a result of a particular episode
- Mention a specific episode you shared with others
Important: Don’t BS this part. Do your homework and actually listen to the podcast before you pitch the host. If you’re not sincere, it will show.
2. It explains the win for them.
I can’t stress this enough—tell them specifically why you think their audience would enjoy the interview.
And if you have an existing email list or social platform where you can promote the episode you would be on, let them know about it.
3. It has a clear ask.
Make it easy for the podcaster to give you a clear yes or no answer. Don’t try to schedule the interview in the very first email. Write it in a way that allows you to end the email with the simple question, “Are you interested?”
If you want to see actual examples of podcast interview pitches using the strategies we recommend (it’s simple, but there is a bit of an art to it), check out our Partnership Marketing 101 post here.
How to Find Podcasts with Your Ideal Customers in Their Audience
So, how do you actually figure out which podcasts are likely to have your customers in their audience?
First, make sure you’re crystal clear on who your ideal customer is.
For example, Diana knows her ideal customer is a senior executive who is going into a career transition.
If you know your customer, there is one obvious strategy you can do right away to find podcasts they’re likely listening to:
Google a description of your customer + “podcasts”.
For example, in Diana’s case that would be search queries like “senior executive podcasts,” “podcasts for senior executives,” etc. Look what comes up when you Google that:
Sidenote: The list style blog posts you see in the search results above are GREAT for this.
You can also apply this same approach to the problem(s) your business is aimed at solving. For Diana, one of those is transitioning your career:
One caveat with this approach: sometimes, you’ll end up finding podcasts tied to businesses that are your direct competitors. In those cases, it might not make sense for them to book you.
Those two approaches are just the tip of the iceberg. If you want to discover even more podcasts that can put you in front of your ideal customers, ask yourself the following question:
What are 5-10 causes of the problem my business solves?
In Diana’s case, that would mean asking WHY executives find themselves wanting a career change. A few ideas:
- They feel unfulfilled
- They’re approaching retirement
- They’re tired of the corporate lifestyle
- Their boss is a jerk
- Their industry is becoming obsolete
This gives you a list of related topics to search for. Any podcasts based around these topics are likely to have some percentage of your customers in their audience.
For example, check out this article that surface when I googled “unfulfilled at work podcasts”:
Boom!
Now, it’s still important to analyze each potential podcast and make sure you’re confident that your ideal clients are listening to it. But if you follow this approach, you will never run out of places to look.
How to Drive Warm Traffic, Leads, and Sales from Every Podcast That Interviews You
Last but not least—how do you make sure your interview will actually get listeners to visit your website, sign up for your email list, and buy your product or service?
I boiled the 5 key steps down into a simple checklist you can run through to make sure you maximize your first (or next) podcast interview. Click below to download your free copy now!
Plus, as an added bonus, you’ll also get a customizable email sequence template you can use to convert new email subscribers you get from podcast interviews into customers.
Get it Free FREE Download: Get our Podcast Interview Checklist + customizable email sequence for turning leads you get from interviews into customers.
Want My Team to Personally Help You Identify Partners, Write Your Pitches, and Coach You Through Executing Them?
Click here to book a free Strategy Call. We’ll dig into your business and walk you through a step-by-step plan for scaling it to $10k per month (and beyond).