Ok, so I’ll admit we could have a debate over what exactly your podcast’s most valuable asset is.
There are so many benefits to podcasting from building a loyal audience who actually feels like they know you, to creating the content for your next book or product on the fly, in real-time, to polishing your skills as a speaker and presenter to prepare you for ever bigger and better speaking engagements.
Oh, and don’t forget about creating that one piece of content — your podcast — and then repurposing it to create enough content to drive your entire content marketing strategy on autopilot.
While these are all fantastic assets, what I’m talking about is the often neglected asset of your guests, and the time you spend with them.
Most podcasters salivate over big guests because they imagine that if the guest shares the podcast with their audience, the podcast is going to become the beneficiary of a massive surge of new subscribers.
Sorry, but I’ve rarely if ever seen it work out that way.
This approach looks right past what should be the more obvious asset of getting a big guest on your show, an opportunity to spend time with that person one on one.
Part of the podcasting strategy we coach our clients on at Counterweight Creative revolves around targeting guests who not only are relevant to the topic covered by the show, but also are people that our hosts have an interest in getting to know on a personal or professional level.
Maybe the guest would be an ideal client of yours, maybe you see a potential mutually beneficial strategic partnership between the two of you, maybe you would love to be introduced to their network, or maybe you’ve just admired this person for a long time and want the chance to get to know them.
Whatever the reason behind your desire to meet this person, your goal when getting them on your show is not simply to interview them for the podcast, but to lay the foundation for a relationship.
I’m not going to get into the nuts and bolts of how to do that in this article. That can vary depending on who both you and your guest are, but there are a couple of things to keep in mind.
1. Focus On The Experience
Your goal with any guest you really want to wow (really this should be all your guests) is to focus on creating an experience that they’ll remember.
Part of this experience takes place during the interview itself, where hopefully you’re the most prepared interviewer they’ve ever encountered and you ask insightful, relevant questions.
But their experience starts long before that, from the moment you initially reach out to them.
Make it clear at every stage that you really value them and that this is not going to be just another run of the mill podcast interview for them.
The experience also carries on past the end of the interview. It’s common practice with many of our clients to send podcast guests a gift following the interview that’s personal, relevant to thank them for their time and insight.
You’re going to need to do your research to get something that really wows them, but hey, you’re already doing your research for the interview, right?
Ideally, the experience of being on your show is so unique that they can’t help but talk about it to people in their network afterward.
2. Have Patience
No matter how great an experience you give your guests, building a relationship takes time and continued attention.
Your goal during the interview experience is to pique their interest and capture their attention but to actually build an authentic relationship with them you’re going to need to follow up repeatedly over time.
Don’t feel like you need to propose weekly calls to keep in touch. They’re going to say no.
Rather, follow up via email or social media every now and then with something that would genuinely interest them.
Share something you come across that might be useful to them, congratulate them personally on a launch, share a breakthrough you had due to one of their recent pieces of content.
These should be short interactions that keep you on their mind and show that you actually care about what they’re doing and you want to help where you can.
Show up for them with generosity and consistency, just like you do for your audience.
Keep yourself free of expectations, timelines, or beliefs that your efforts will ever amount to anything at all. If you truly admire and respect this person, it should be enough to show your support for the work they do even if you never get anything in return.
Putting the effort into building relationships with your podcast guests is something like buying lottery tickets. You have to buy them in order to have a chance to win, and you’ll probably spend time, effort and money that goes unrewarded.
But it often only takes one to work out to change everything for you.
Every Sunday I send out an exclusive article on how to use podcasting to build an audience and grow your business. No opt-in, no bribe, no spam. You in?
Jeremy travels full-time, loves long-distance cycle touring, and will always look back on the day he finally saved up enough money to buy the Millennium Falcon Lego set as one of his proudest achievements. He believes that the way to grow sustainable businesses is by leading with heart, vulnerability, and helping your people be and become their best selves.
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