Episode 294

Podcast Pitching Mistakes from a Host’s Perspective

Podcast Pitching Mistakes

First, let’s talk about bad podcast pitches. 

There are a few “red flags”, “no-no’s”, “faux-paus”, and the reasons why you’ll quickly get a “NO!” from me when you send me a podcast pitch. Two of the biggest offenders are:

1. The guest — or the person pitching for the guest — talks none stop about themselves. 

I will go out of my way to delete an email or DM that talks way too much about the guest and how amazing they are.

I’m sure you are special.
I bet you do have a million dollar company.
Those best selling books are impressive.
You are doing great things for yourself…

But if that doesn’t translate into how you can help my audience, I’m not interested in your being on my podcast. #sorrynotsorry

 I want to see you getting more guest spots on podcasts. And the way to do it isn’t to be overly bragadocious. We’ll talk about “good pitches” in a second.

2. Not adding talking points or suggested topics for the episode. 

This one is a little less black and white in terms of me writing off someone for a guest spot. I will still consider someone as a guest for a show, but it’s more like to help you get a “yes” from me if you include:

• Topics we can talk about
• Ideas for us to catch and pitch during an interview

3-5 topics/ideas is the suggested amount of topics I’d recommend when considering what to send to a podcast host. If the host you’re pitching is anything like me, they’ll take 1-3 of those ideas and turn it into a great episode.

Now, let’s talk about good podcast pitches.

Getting all of the “bad pitches” out of the way first, we can now talk about what’s more likely to help you get a “yes” from a podcast host. Here are some of the characteristics of pitches I’ve accepted for guests on my show:

• Including a piece of content that can help the host connect with you as the guest (Some ideas: audio clips from previous podcast interviews, IG/FB lives, and/or YouTube videos)
• One-sheet PDF or Doc (I love when guests send this to me to show me a snap shot of who the person is and why they’d be a great fit for my podcast.)
• At the very least, send the host your social media links and your website to learn more about who you are.

Podcast Pitching Resources

Check out these previous podcast episodes and interviews.

I feel so blessed to know and have interviewed several people on the podcast already that have provided some amazing insight and great resources for guesting on podcasts. Make sure you go back and listen these episodes:

Go listen to my previous episodes with Mai-Kee Tsang where we’ve talked about podcast guesting and pitches:
How to Be a Guest on Other Podcasts with Mai-kee Tsang, Ep 77
Guesting on Podcasts, Follow-Up w/Mai-Kee Tsang, Ep 119
How to Pitch a Podcast: Dos and Don’ts with Mai-Kee Tsang, Ep 244
Angie Trueblood and her team are awesome at podcast guest pitches
Convo w/Angie Trueblood: Guesting on Podcasts, Ep 141
Interview Valet – Tom Schwab
Interview Valet Tips for Guests and Hosts, Ep 143
Kristin Molenaar over at Yes Boss VA
Podcast Guesting for Profit with Kristin Molenaar, Ep 248
How to be selective with your podcast guests, Ep 138