6 Ways to Build Relationships with Podcast Hosts (Before Pitching)

Are you thinking of pitching yourself to be a guest on podcasts? 

Whether you’re a blogger or podcaster writing your first book, or you’re an author ready to launch and share your message, guesting on podcasts is a great way to reach and serve new readers.

I’m all about service over selling.

Podcast hosts aren’t looking for guests to come on and sell to their listeners. They are looking for guests who will serve their listeners.

Today I’m sharing six ways to build relationships with podcast hosts before you send your pitch so they know you are a guest who will show up to serve their listeners.

Apple / YouTube / Spotify / You choose

1. Leave a thoughtful review for their show.

Podcast hosts get TONS of pitches each week. They want to know if you even listen to the show and are familiar with the audience they serve.

If you are a regular listener, let them know.

If you just discovered the show, listen to an episode or two.

Leaving a review shows your support for all the hard work that the host puts into the show and it shows potential listeners that it’s worth their time to tune in.

2. Share their episodes on social (and tag them).

Take a screenshot on your phone of the show in your podcast player and share that on Instagram stories. You can also share directly from their IG or FB post to make it easier.

Are they active on Linkedin? If they're also authors or coaches, they probably are. Leave a comment there, as it's super rare and a blessing to the host!

3. Follow the host on social and engage.

Let the podcast host know you are aware of who they are and who they serve (as you are likely a target listener too). 

If they’re sharing their latest episode, leave a thoughtful comment about your takeaway from listening. Respond to the questions they are asking in their captions. Tag your friends in the comments.

4. Reply to their Stories and start genuine conversations.

If you see a podcast host active with their followers on Stories, reply and et them know what you loved about this week’s episode. But don’t be annoying.

Don’t just pitch right away. And really, don’t pitch at all unless you know that DM pitches are their preference. Ask if they can share a link to their guest submission form if they have one. Or what is the best email to send a guest pitch to.

Podcast Pitching pro tip: Be sure to review and optimize your own social profile to see what potential hosts see. Here's what to look for.

5. Subscribe to their email list and reply to emails.

When you experience an outage on Facebook or Instagram, you're instantly reminded of how important an email list is.

If you’re like me and subscribe to lots of emails, you’re probably still deleting all the “can we talk while FB is down emails” that really just wanted to sell us something.

I took the opportunity to email my list with tips on how they could use this outage to their advantage to get on the radar of podcast hosts through email.

It’s so hard to build an engaged list that actually opens your emails, but it’s WAY harder to get your email subscribers to reply. I know from being on both sides of it. So when someone replies in email, you notice.

Podcast pitching pro tip: When you sign up for their email list and receive their autoresponder, now you have their most current email address to send a pitch. 😉

6. Invite them to be a guest on your show first.

If the host you are pitching is a fit for your own show, write a personalized pitch just like you would when pitching to guest. But this time you’re pitching your show to them inviting them to be a guest.

Through your interview, the host will discover what an incredible communicator you are and how important it is to you to bring valuable content to your own listeners. They’ll no doubt realize you are the perfect guest for their show.

And if they don’t, you can easily follow up after the show airs, thanking them for serving your audience, and sharing how you can do the same for theirs.

Serving over selling.

It’s the name of the game in podcast guesting and starts long before you start podcast pitching.

Take some time today to build relationships with podcast hosts. Trust me, it’s worth the investment and they will remember you.

 

9 Ways Guesting on Podcasts Helps Grow Your Author Platform
Jumpstart Your Podcast Pitching (free training)

6 More Ways to Connect with Podcast Hosts Before Pitching #44
Using Instagram Authentically to Reach Your Target Readers #4
Using Linkedin to Grow Your Author Platform #41