At Premier Companies, we talk often about the value of interview-based podcasting for growing your brand. Interview-based podcasting allows your brand to:
- Generate engaging content without creating it yourself.
- Establish credibility as a trusted voice in your industry.
- Grow your audience across multiple platforms: audio, video, and social media.
By interviewing interesting guests on your podcast, you’ll engage your own audience, but just as importantly, you’ll connect to a new audience: your guest’s. If your guest comes on your show and then shares the podcast with his or her audience, your brand gets shared to an entirely new group.
The question for most people is, “How do I get interesting guests to come on my show?”
Acquiring a list of new and exciting guests is a process we call “the snowball effect.” A snowball starts out small, but grows in speed, size, and impact, as it rolls down a hill. In the same way, your list of potential guests may start small, but as your podcast rolls along, your guest list will grow in size and impact, if you follow a few simple steps.
First, reach out to the interesting people you know. Go through your list colleagues, clients, and contacts on Facebook and LinkedIn to find guests. A personal connections will be much more likely to help you get started.
With each guest that comes in, ask for referrals. Do they know of anyone who would enjoy being on the show or benefit from the exposure that comes with it? Do you already have someone in mind? Ask your guest if they would connect you. Now your one guest has turned into two or three. When the two or three referrals come in for their interview, ask them for referrals.
Finally, make each guest feel honored and privileged to be invited on to your show. When you introduce each guest at the start of the episode, make sure you mention their roles and accomplishments. Take time to tell the audience why you chose to invite them.
When future guests listen to your show, they will see how well guests are treated and how being on the show paints guests in a positive light, enticing them to make an appearance.
Authentically American achieved success with using the snowball effect. The Authentically American Podcast uses an interview format to feature “inspiring stories of great Americans making a difference.”
Host, Dean Wegner, began the process of starting a show near the end of 2018 by identifying the potential guests he knew personally. By month 4, he had U.S. Congressman Mark Green in the Premier Companies studio to record his seventh episode. The connection with Congressman Green wasn’t a personal one, but came after the show had recorded multiple episodes.
Congressman Green graduated from West Point before becoming an Army Ranger, a decorated combat veteran, an ER doctor, a successful business leader, and United States Congressman. He helped capture Saddam Hussein – that’s an interesting guest!
Here’s a clip from the interview: