5 Advanced Strategies for being a Podcast Guest -13

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Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:00:02

In June 2024, a Signal Hill online research study of 5,000, the largest one done, American adult found that 94% were familiar with podcasts. Podcasts are bigger than a thing. They are everywhere. What is most compelling is that 80% of podcast listeners actually stay tuned for most or all of the podcast episodes they listen to. In a world of flash content, I mean, my attention span has definitely changed in the last 5 years. How have yours? Last 10 years? Last 5 minutes? In the world of that, it means something that people will actually listen to 80% of an episode. And that is why podcast guesting matters. You get an average of 40 minutes of undivided attention with your ideal clients.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:00:46

That is more focused time than almost any other marketing channel can offer you. I am Shawna Rodrigues, a podcast strategist that helps purpose driven solopreneurs connect to their ideal clients for podcasting. If not already strategically leveraging this incredible opportunity for your business, you need to start. In this episode, I have got 5 proven strategies that will be the push you need to understand how podcast guesting is really going to level things up in your business. These advanced strategies can turn podcast guesting from a sporadic marketing thing you do sometimes, an afterthought, into a consistent lead generator. Whether you are just starting your podcast guesting journey or you haven't seen the results you wanted, this episode will transform how you approach growing your business for podcasting. At the Overrun, we jump in with actual strategy.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:01:40

Welcome to Authenticity Amplified, your resource for attracting and connecting to your ideal client, the go to podcast for entrepreneurs on the go to grow their business. I'm your host Shawna Rodriguez, podcast strategist and the founder of the Solopreneur Sisterhood. I am here to bring community to the entrepreneurial journey and learn alongside you as we tap into knowledge and insights from experts to help you grow your business. I know how much effort you put into your business, and this is useful and practical information coming straight to you wherever you are, whenever you have the time to listen.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:02:18

Let's talk about something that just might surprise you. The most popular podcast in your industry, possibly the ones you listen to most frequently, they may not be your best opportunity. The last time we talked about podcast guesting, episode 7, if you haven't checked it out, we talked about using listen notes to do your research. That is the best way to find out about podcasts you aren't as familiar with. And we're gonna go deeper on that tool, but that strategic way show selection. What most people miss is that you wanna look for podcasts that are active, obviously. They are published at least twice a month, because that shows that you probably have an engaged audience and a host that is committed to the show and showing up for the show. You also want to pay attention to the length of the episodes, because you probably want typically a 40, 45 minute show, because that's how long it's going to take for guests to be able to get in the flow and really share their expertise.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:03:13

So 20 minute shows aren't typically the right fit for you to be able to do be a guest on a podcast and share the information you want to share. But part of that is, like, what you're trying to get in. Right? We have a podcast, author express on our network, that is only 15 minutes. And the intention behind that is for authors, and it's to have the follow through of listeners listening to not 1, but 2 and getting to know them. And if you listen to the podcast episode, you actually get a pretty good amount of information in there to get a good feel for a book and an author in a short amount of time. So it's a nice one to mix in if you're going to be on multiple shows. But you want to actually listen to that episode before you decide to be on there to see if you're getting any real meat or good conversations out of that short of a format and see what the host is actually able to do with it. Right? For the most part, if you're in business, and again, we are not talking business on that.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:04:07

You're an author and it's specific to talk about a book and you can do that in 15 minutes. Right? So you need to be able to know what you're trying to fit in and what they're able to do and what the philosophy is behind it and to see if it actually fits with what you're trying to share and if you can get that into that amount of time. So looking for things like length of episode is actually helpful in deciding if it could be the right fit for you. Another nugget is for you to look for shows that have been around for 6 months to about 2 years. The reason behind that is these typically are more established shows that are around, and making it past the 1 year mark is a big deal on podcasting. And so if they've been around for at least a year, it shows that there's somebody that's stuck with it, gonna stick with it, gonna be around. Right? And it also is more likely that they have listeners that are still coming on board because the algorithms start pushing you a little better after a year or 2. And once people find you, they're more likely to go back episodes, which can be beneficial for you to get in that rotation.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:05:02

Like, if you get in between the 6 months and the year and they're going to stick around, like, they'll start getting people to discover them and go to the back episodes as well. So it has more longevity for what you share in their podcast, and it also shows they're gonna be around for a bit. And so they have a bit of an audience, but they're also gonna be growing and be around so there'll be longevity and there'll be some lasting power to what you share on their podcast. Right? So they're also somebody who hasn't been around for 4, 5, 10 years of being overwhelmed with pitches. Right? So that's a good thing to look at. Like, 6 months to 2 years old is a good time frame for somebody to be established, have a good following, but not be so overwhelmed with pitches that they're not going to be responsive. So podcasts that usually have, especially if you're starting out, you want to have somebody that's in the, like, top 10%, top 5%, but not necessarily in the top point 5%, top 1% because they're probably getting a little bit more overwhelmed. And you want to make sure that you understand that they do have guests and that is part of their format and you do have an audience that they share and there will be a connection.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:06:02

We'll talk a little bit more about what you bring to the game and a good way to show that to them a little bit later with a later strategy. So that's the sweet spot, 6 months to 2 years. And really knowing that connecting with a host is an important part of really building that relationship and getting on to this podcast. Sometimes that can feel easy and sometimes that can feel hard. We all had to fill levels of comfort with that. Right? And I think at different times, we feel more comfortable or less comfortable. Have you ever walked into a room and realized that you were the complete outlier? You have that twist in your belly, and we just almost akin to nausea. Right? That bit of discomfort.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:06:36

I think many of us have felt that way at least once, whether we looked different, sounded different, or for some reason just didn't feel like we fit in, whether it was a new place. The first time I was in Louisiana, right, When I'm from the West Coast in Oregon and never been East of of New Mexico, I also felt that way the first time I went to a podcasting conference, which surprised me. It all just began my journey. And I was throwing myself all into the adventure and signed up and showed up at a podcasting conference. But I was very surprised that I felt so much like an outsider when talking and being on a podcast felt so natural and harmful to me. I shrugged it off, but walking into these rooms felt so hard, but maybe it was just my first big event, that maybe it was post COVID that everything felt strange. Then the next day at one of the pottery sessions, I heard the statistic that made it all make sense. The only 27%, 27% of podcasts were hosted by women.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:07:41

It clicked. I was the minority. That's why it felt so strange walking into those rooms. That's why I felt uncomfortable. It wasn't just COVID and being around a lot of people that felt strange. It was because there was fewer women in the room and there was a different energy and the topics and the podcast I was hearing about didn't connect because that's not what I realized podcasting was about, because it wasn't an industry that was tailored to what I was wanting to talk about and what I thought it would be about. So it made sense. Right? So that is when things changed for me.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:08:22

And 3 months later, I was building a podcast network, which I never would have imagined 5 months earlier 5 years earlier when I was a kid growing up. Right? Never would have imagined that. But when I realized that only 27% podcasts are hosted by women, it was like there was voices that were being silenced. And that needed to change. There needed to be a better way and a better avenue for that. So there was a authentic connections podcast network was born, and it has a vision of 37 by 27 to increase number of women in podcasting by 10%. And the 5 years since it was incepted that by 2027, that would change. Because really, it should be closer to 50%.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:09:13

Right? I mean, after all, 49% of podcast listeners are women, so shouldn't 49 to 50% of podcasts be hosted by women? I know it's a little bit of a giant transition there, but that's how we went into our second strategy, which is that we need to be good at storytelling and that I know you're probably a little bit, like, where do we go with that? We changed we changed gears really fast. But our second strategy is to have a signature story framework. I'm not in an interview podcast, so I didn't have somebody ask me a question where I could give that as my answer. Right? But that's what you wanna be able to do is have stories that tell about your origin, about your transformation, about how you came into your work and then a way that is memorable and connects to people. Right? And so that is the other thing that you wanna make sure that you have prepared in a short format. As long as I talked, it's probably the longest you should be talking about something like that, To be able to answer a question and be able to tell your origin story, your transformation that people can connect to and understand why you do what you do and why they should care about what you do. Right? So it needs to be something that's about that pivotal moment. Right? So we'll break this down more in-depth.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:10:26

I have on Apple Podcasts, we have this up close segment for subscribers only, and so we're gonna go into the different types. There's more than one type of storytelling, and we'll go into that a little bit more and get into this crucial skill about this because it's so helpful if you are a podcaster or if you're gonna be on podcast guesting to be able to do that storytelling because you need it to be the shortest version possible. You need to be able to tell one of them is about that pivotal moment of transformation. It's your origin story. Right? But you need to make it specific to make it more universal because the emotion is what needs to be universal, but the story can be specific and still connect to that. And you need to make sure that you're showing and not telling. And so those are the things that we need to focus on. We've had I have examples.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:11:12

You could probably go back to some of my podcasts and heard about guests that have made it too long and sound like they're reading a script and can't be interrupted. So you need to make sure that you can tight and short as possible and see if you can connect it to questions and not make it a monologue. And so you need to be able to not go straight into teaching mode and get into that mindset because you might lose people a little bit, it can be a little too dry sometimes, you can use stories to really make things more memorable and to make it so that you're showing and not just telling. So we go into this also in the 4 part series on podcast guesting because you'll have the opportunity to workshop those stories and be able to practice them, which is so valuable. And we'll give you some more tips on that also in the in the description on the Apple Podcasts. That's very helpful. The third strategy is the value first prep method. So when you get ready to go on to a podcast, you need to listen to preferably 3, I know, 3 episodes.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:12:13

If you can work them into your drive, work them into your schedule, it's not as hard as it sounds. And so you wanna listen to their most recent episode so you're up on what they're talking about most currently, their most popular episode, if you can suss that out, and then one that relates to the topic aligned with what you're gonna speak on or your industry so that you can be well versed in what's previously been said with our audience already familiar with on this topic so you can be building on that and connecting to that. And if you really had to just boil it down to 1, that would be the one that you'd boil it down to. And when you do that listening, I really recommend doing a podcast prep profile is what I call it, and we talk about that more in our 4 part training. But you wanna talk about, like, note the things that they the questions they most commonly ask, if they have any favorite topics they lean towards, and really see if the audience's pain point comes out of that. And some of these things you can also get from their website or from other their social media if you if they have an Instagram page, if they have Facebook, if you can, like, lean it from those pieces as well. But if you just listen to those 3 episodes, you could probably get that just from those episodes. But if you skip and I'll listen to one, you probably have to glean it from those other places as well.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:13:22

And then you also wanna be able to relate how your expertise can address those elements, especially the pain points for the audience and those questions they most commonly ask, right, so that you can connect to those topics and see how what you talk about next to that so that you can connect. And the real beauty is when you request to be on a podcast, definitely listen to one of those, if not 3 of those, and reference that when you're trying to get on a podcast. I guarantee you, those are the people who've gotten on to my podcast via cold emails, cold conversations is actually referencing and being familiar by podcast. I think I mentioned in the previous episode, like, I get requests for they don't even name what podcast. I have more than 1 podcast. And they got my email. They don't know that I have more than 1 podcast. They just, like, put me, like, on a bulk mailing list with this blanket thing and sent this email to, like, 30 people.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:14:15

And so they don't even know what my podcast is. And so those are the ones that typically don't get a response from me. And so that's an important thing for you to be able to say, like, oh, yeah. Like, I listened to this episode. I really appreciate how you tap into the expertise of your guest, but ask questions in a way that's really unique, such as when you ask this question of this guest. And, like, if you know an actual question they ask one of their guests, like, they will be so impressed with you. And when you go on to the podcast, if you can actually reference back to a former episode for the audience's benefits, like, they will be thrilled with that, and the guests will be thrilled with that. And the audience will feel like they're included because you know what they've listened to and you know who they are, and they will feel more connected to you.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:15:04

And they're more likely to follow you and connect with you and respect you because you've done your homework and you're part of their community and not just somebody that showed up and and said some things at one time. So those are the type of things you really wanna do if you want to be successful in getting on podcasts and also getting the audience to connect with you and continue with you. So that value first prep method can really make a difference on how successful you are at podcast casting. And the 4th strategy is a content cascade strategy. So something that 90% of podcast guests completely miss is how to really use one interview and to be multiple pieces of content and really have it benefit their whole marketing strategy, all of the work they're doing. So they're either being on so many that they just kind of, like, blur through them. Right? Or they don't recognize what this opportunity is. One podcast episode is a gold mine, whether you have a podcast or you vest on them.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:16:01

So you can take that one podcast episode and not just share the link, sharing the link is a good place to start, but you can take that and intentionally create more from it. And a really powerful way to do that is to have quote moments. So if you've noticed during this episode, if you're listening to the full episode, I use things like content cascade strategy. Right? And then explain what that is. That creates quote moments. That creates something that I can pull out and just use as one part of this conversation around content cascade strategy. So if you have things you create that are nuggets that you're dropping inside the podcast episodes when you go on them because you have these quote moments, then you can build a separate reel that you make and talk about. So if you tune into Authenticity Amplified that I was on with Shawna Rodriguez, we talk about content cascade strategy.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:17:02

Do you wonder what that is? You are gonna get so much more the whole episode, but I will give you a hint. It is about how you can use the content from 1 podcast episode to populate your content, your marketing strategy for an entire month from 1 podcast episode. There is so much gold in there. We talk about it more, so check out the full episode. But you can use 1 podcast episode to take care of your Instagram reels, to fill your blog posts. Whatever you need for content, you can get from 1 podcast episode. Check it out. And so by having, like, content cascade strategy, right, we'll talk about our next strategy, the rapid authority excel accelerator.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:17:42

Right? If you come up with these, like, buzz terms, put moments, build these pieces around it, you can take those pieces out and then use them. So it's valuable to, when you speak, to practice having, like, the value first prep method that I mentioned. And you say the value first prep method and you give a description of it, so you have an easy pull outable quote that you can use that you can just, like, write up as a carousel for you to put on Instagram if you wanted to, for you to make a blog post to elaborate on. There's so many things that you can do with it. Right? So if you are intentional about what you go into the podcast talking about, you're able to then take that out and utilize it for your content cascade strategy to utilize in multiple ways. So you just need to be mindful and intentional about it. And that's why sometimes it's better to, like, slowly build up the podcast that you're on so that you can practice utilizing that and get the most out of each podcast guesting opportunity and then build up your momentum elsewhere. This brings us into strategy 5, which is a different way of doing things.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:18:51

You can still use that content cascade strategy. However, this is the rapid authority accelerator. So this is a way of trying to make you ubiquitous. I don't know the show title that I just saw on Instagram, but I logged on the other day and every other post was related to it. It has land in the title and it's on Paramount. Like, seriously, if you know it, like, put it in the comments below. But I can go to Paramount and search land, and I'm sure it'll come up. What I remember is the woman's dress.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:19:26

She had this fabulous dress. She must have been wearing it on the red carpet from when they did it. But it was a very simple dress, but it was very iconic. She her partner, whoever her date was, her partner could have been her husband because I don't know her to know him, but it was, like, I should know them. They look they're a fabulous couple. They were very connected, very sweet. That dress is very iconic. And then I was scrolling, and I was like, wait, she looks like the same woman in these clips.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:19:50

And the clips are so different. It's very grainy, beige, looked like Texas oil land. It had, is it Billy Bob Thornton? Is that his name? The guy from Sling Blade. Right? I think that was him. Maybe it wasn't. You could also quirk that in the comments. So has this guy in in the clips and but she was the same woman, like, the same length hair. She's not especially iconic.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:20:13

So it's interesting you could tell it was her from her being, like, red carpet, red carpet dressed to then being in this other scene, right, where she's in this more beige scene Texas with a rattlesnake, whatever else. But seriously, every other thing on Instagram and I look I'm not following any of them, but it was like they had so much advertising that was every other thing on my feed was them. And so Paramount, because they already have a very iconic their thing. Right? And land, something about land, was in the title of the show. And that's what stuck for me, so I could go find it later. But they essentially did what I'm talking about here with this rapid authority accelerator. And this intention is that if you're wanting to, like, get out and be everywhere, that you do what I am going to call a power cluster. And so instead of, like, randomly pairing on podcasts here and there, like, you strategically book with podcasts, like, all at the same time.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:21:13

And this is like very much when books come out, this is the strategy that's used. Right? So you get this omnipresent effect so that people are, like, oh, there she is there. There she is there. There she is there. Well, there she is there. Who is this woman? Like, what is this? I need to learn more about this. So that you actually finally go to Paramount and look up whatever the show was with Landon Patel. Right? So your target audience starts to hear you or see you on social media, if not actually on the podcast, that they're a podcast listener.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:21:42

And they see you on the podcast apps as well as seeing you on social media being advertised for these podcasts. Right? So this is, like, a 2 week window. You pack it in as you work with the podcast you're going to be on. They're like, okay. So these are all gonna come out, you know, the last 2 weeks of February. And you work with them to schedule that and to make that happen. And it takes an effort to do that so that you're doing these 4 to 7 podcasts all around the same time. So visibility.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:22:12

Right? We're leveling it up. We're leveling it up because that's what we do here. We take it to the next level. The key is each appearance needs to showcase a little different aspect of your expertise while pointing to the same core message so you don't sound like the exact same thing every single time, every single place. Yes, yes. And hopefully your hosts will help with that a little bit and the podcast that you are on will help with that a little bit. But remember, you're trying to get on the same core audience, so you're trying to get where they're gonna see you, so they can be similar podcasts. But you need to make sure that you're bringing a little something different to them, that you're doing the same pointing to the same end piece, but you're bringing something different.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:23:02

So if I was going to set this up and I'm trying to point to we're going to be launching solopreneur sisterhood. Right? So if I'm gonna try to launch solopreneur sisterhood, that actually I'm talking a lot on one of them about podcast guesting and the importance of that for building your business. Right? Because solopreneurs need to be able to build their business. So I will talk about podcast guesting, but the key thing I'm pointing back to is community and solopreneur sisterhood. I'm pointing back to this. Right? Is it building your business, but also to the community and solopreneur sisterhood? And then I'll go somewhere else, and I'll talk about because I do have ADHD, and that's something that actually comes up. And so ADHD and and trying to be in business with having ADHD and what that brings and what the challenges are, and then how that that unique community and unique connection and how the solopreneur sisterhood is an example of having that and things like body doubling you can get from solopreneur sisterhood. And then I'll go on to another one, and I'll talk about my journey as a podcaster and starting my podcast network, more of my origin story, more of that story.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:24:07

And then in the end, we'll talk about how that has also led to Soul Upon Our Sisterhood because I've realized that part of the journey that we all have is that you need to have a successful business before you're going to have the podcast you're meant for and how that also leads to I want people to be successful in business so that that community is part of them being successful. So that's why we founded Soulpreneur Sisterhood. So that I'm doing different pieces where the people aren't hearing me say the exact same things. They're not gonna listen to me 5 times. Right? But that it connects. And it is good to have, like, some stories are the same but in different depths and, like, oh, I do. I know this about her. Right? I know this about her.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:24:46

I know that she has this story about why the 37 by 27. Right? That story will probably come up in each of those podcasts, but I won't tell it in as much depth. I'll just tell a little bit of that story. So that is the rapid authority accelerator and how you can do power clusters to really give you that authority and that effect. Good strategy, Have you got a lot out of this? I love this. Podcast guesting is such a valuable tool, and I am all about you having the podcast you are meant for. But I also believe that you need to be in a place to do that because podcasting consistently, and I do recommend starting at weekly and then moving to every other week once you get to that point, right, is, is something that we need to have space for. And so podcast guesting to build your authority, build your audience, build your business, and then once your business gets to a place where you can give what you want to have the podcast you're meant for, that you stay with, because I want you to be in and stay in podcasting, is an excellent strategy.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:25:54

Hopefully, you've got a ton out of this. You've got a ton of the other episodes that I did specifically on podcast guesting. And you have a tip sheet that tells you a little bit more so you have that to reference and go back to. But if you're interested, get in the workshop, the 4 part series that we're going to be doing specifically on podcast guesting, because it is such a valuable opportunity to really unpack some of this, come up with specifically the 4 different magnetic storytelling matrix is what we call it. We talk about it on Apple Podcasts in more depth, but we really go into depth for the workshop. So I hope you check it out. You can look down below and get more information on that. And thank you for being here and making time for this conversation.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:26:42

Isn't there so much to learn on our entrepreneurial journey? Thanks for spending time with me here on Authenticity Amplified. Be sure to hit that button to follow or subscribe so you'll be alerted as new episodes are released. Here in this 1st month, they are coming out frequently. If you are a solopreneur and want to get to part of this podcast launch, we are doing a fun activity with authentic business voices. Go check it out on YouTube. The link is in the show notes. And if you go to bit.ly/AuthenticBV you can grab a quick time to record your video with me and be part of this fun event as our launch.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:27:23

I'd love to meet you. Entrepreneurship can feel like an isolating journey. After all, 80% of small businesses are solopreneurs. That does not mean you have to do it alone, though. We are here every week to be part of this adventure with you. Until next time.