WHAT’S THIS EPISODE ABOUT?
Podcast Interview Guests: Where to Find Them
I often get asked, “How do you find people to interview for your podcast?” So I want to share with you two easy ways you can fill your editorial calendar for your podcast with tons of guests.
But before we dive into where to find your guests, I want to really drill down what we are looking for in a podcast guest.
I’ve told this story before…
But I feel like I need to repeat it again today.
There was one particular guest that reached out to me for a potential collaboration several months ago. But I knew immediately from the email they sent to me that our principles and values did not align.
While they had an amazing story about their business, their product was not for me or my audience. So I declined the interview and didn’t even feel bad about it. I knew in the long run that it was the best thing for the podcast and my audience.
What Do You Look for in a Podcast Guest?
Well, there are three things that you should consider:
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Does your guest have an audience similar to your own?
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Do their principles and values align with yours?
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Do you feel in your gut that working with this person is going to bring a positive vibe to your podcast?
If you answered “Yes” to all three of those, then that is usually the green light for you to have that person on your podcast.
If you answered “No”, reevaluate why you want to have them on your podcast. If they reached out to you, but you’re feeling a “No”…I wouldn’t go through with the interview. But that’s just me.
Now, let’s talk about WHERE to find your next podcast guest.
Facebook Groups: My #1 Go-To for Finding Podcast Guests to Interview
If you were to go back through all of the interviews that I have had in the last year, 95% of those interviews originated in a Facebook group.
It was either someone who asked amazing questions and I wanted to learn more about what they did. Or it was someone who was looking to be a podcast guest and our audiences aligned really well. Or it was me reaching out and specifically asking for guests and that person happened to meet the specific profile for what I was looking for.
I’m regularly in public Facebook groups related to my industry (almost daily) asking and answering questions. So I know that is where my audience likes to hang out.
This is important for two reasons.
- It allows for me to be visible in front of people who could potentially listen to my podcast.
- It allows me to network with people within my industry that I can collaborate with, learn from, and grow with throughout this journey.
Try to join active and engaged Facebook groups that offer a ton of value to its members.
Trust me, I’ve experienced this and I’m sure you have to, but there are a ton of terrible groups out there. Just constant bickering, spamming, and just so much drama! (What’s with ALL the drama in the Facebook groups, for real?)
Make sure that you are part of online communities that are building each other up, genuinely trying to help each other, and it is an overall pleasant place to be. Now, I was specifically talking about public Facebook groups.
Let’s talk about private Facebook groups.
A really cool thing about Facebook groups is that I’ve been able to expand my network through online courses I’ve taken that have their own private online communities.
These private groups allow me to reach out to people who likely have the same commonalities, principles, and values as me and my audience.
The Proffitt Podcasting Facebook Group, the private group that is only available for students, is a great place for people who are taking my digital course to reach out if they’re looking for guests or looking to be a guest on someone else’s podcast.
“She Podcasts” Facebook Group does a weekly post to pitch yourself where people can showcase why they’d be a great guest on your podcast. (Make sure that you join their group and I promise with over 13,000 podcasters in there you’re bound to find some amazing guest for your podcast.)
Okay, so we covered ways to use Facebook groups to find guests to interview on your podcast.
REAL FAST, I WANTED TO MENTION THAT I HAVE A FREE PDF ABOUT “QUESTIONS TO ASK ANY Guest ON YOUR PODCAST” in the Resource Library.
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Podcast Guests Within Your Own Network
I want you to think about all of the different aspects of your podcast topic. Let’s take the example of creating online courses. I know that creating online courses is a specific topic for a podcast, but there are so many different moving pieces that go into creating an online course.
You have to create it, market it, do all of the back-end technology, build an email list, social media promotion, in-person promotion, public speaking about your course, etc.
So I want you to sit down, and this may take you 5-10 minutes to do this very thoroughly. But I want you to think of every aspect of your podcast. Think of all the ways that you can splinter off content from the core message of your podcast.
I’ll give you another example, we talk about podcasting on this podcast. Within the podcasting industry, I could cover topics about equipment, content creation, creating a website for a podcast, the technology that goes into podcast hosting, logo creation, specific marketing strategies, etc.
Now that I have all of those ideas that stem from my main podcast theme, I could sit down and think about who I know within my industry that I can interview about one of those things.
Do you have friends, family, or colleagues in your industry that you could interview?
Are there podcasts that you admire that you could ask about a guest appearance on your podcast?
When you start to think about the bigger picture of every aspect of your topic, the possibilities don’t seem so small. I know for me personally, I feel like I could interview a stranger on the street for my podcast! I could ask them simple questions like, “Do you listen to podcasts? What is your favorite podcast? Do you even know what a podcast is?”
When you think about endless opportunities and ideas, you come at your podcast with an abundance perspective as opposed to scarcity.
You’ll start to see that there are ideas everywhere.
I’m sure there are people online right now who would be a perfect fit for your podcast. They’re just waiting for you to reach out to them!
RECAP: Podcast Interview Guests: Where to Find Them
- Facebook Groups are My #1 Go-To Resource
- Look for Guests Already within Your Network
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