Land Podcast Interviews + the Right Category

Friends!

Are you wondering how to land big podcast interviews and get featured on big podcasts? How to pitch podcast hosts and lock in interviews that can help you gain more visibility, grow your audience, and scale your own show?

This LIVE question and answer session with my Podcast Pro University students is a deep dive into all things podcasting. Whether you have a show or you are ready to start a podcast, this episode will give you valuable insight into picking the right category for your podcast, choosing a podcast niche, and more!

It’s time to grow your podcast and get SEEN! Let’s dive in.

I pray this blesses you!

FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION:

(00:00)
Hey friends today in this podcast episode, we are going to be digging into all things podcasting. I’m talking how to pitch shows that are larger than yours, so that you can get a guest spot on other people’s podcasts. Why is that so awesome because it’s free visibility, it’s organic growth, and it’s just a great way to be seen and blow up your own show by pouring into someone else’s audience. Love it. It’s one of the number one ways that I have grown my show organically.

(00:29)
Secondly, what to do if you want to switch your niche, that rhymed switch your niche, which category is right for your podcast. And if you should do interviews are interviews right for you, pros and cons of not having interviews on your show, interview structure, all things interview and so much more. This is going to be awesome.

(00:50)
I know you’re going to learn so much about your podcast and if you don’t have a podcast, yet friend, why not? Podcasting is the number one way that I have grown and exploded my business. After being an entrepreneur for eight years, podcasting is what really took it next level. In this short year and a half that I have been podcasting. y’all my organic growth has been bigger than I ever could have imagined.

(01:21)
Over a hundred thousand in my community. Revenue growth has is like thousands and thousands percent more. I don’t even know what that percentage is, but it’s gotta be nuts. And I’m able to have this organic, free funnel from people that listen to this show that then want to come and work with me, right? So if you have a podcast, it’s how you can show up in the world and serve your mission.

(01:50)
Have a personal brand show up, teach people once a week, super simple on a 30 minute or less podcast episode, the SEO growth helps you get found, which I teach you in my course, we market on Pinterest, which I touch on in my course. I then show you how to have a really epic launch so that you can have growth quicker than if you were doing this all on your own.

(02:11)
The secret to having big revenue in your business is to have trust. How can, what better way to create trust than to pour into people every single week for free, which is on a podcast. And I’m going to go ahead and guess that for 90% of you, your audience are moms or busy women or busy entrepreneurs, right? Guess what? They are not watching. They are not reading. They’re listening while they commute, while they do stuff.

(02:42)
That’s why podcasting works so incredibly well. Y’all, I have students from every walk of life, men, women, moms, not moms, business owners, entrepreneurs, people just getting started, freelancers, virtual assistants, you name it who have started a podcast using my proven course Podcast Pro University. And they now have an organic sales funnel.

(03:03)
I have people who have launched number four in their category, I have people who have launched top 30 left and right. I have people who are making thousands of dollars a month because they started a podcast and then monetized it. All of which I teach you inside of my course Podcast Pro University.

(03:22)
So if this is your time and you’re like, oh, okay, Stef, I think I’m going to finally do it. I want you to head over to podcastprouniversity.com, hurry and access your lifetime pass to my course, which is always updated, which includes, if you hurry for a limited time, free access to my membership community, which is crazy. I go live in there every single week. You can ask questions. People are doing review swaps and interview swaps together and helping each other grow and scale and just working together.

(03:54)
It’s such a beautiful place. It’s going to be your podcasting sisterhood, your hub, to really grow and scale your show that’s included right now. So go grab that offer. All right, I’ll meet you inside Podcast Pro University. Let’s talk podcasting.

(05:17)
Hey everyone. I’m so excited to answer some Q and A with you guys today. We have some great questions from the community, so I’m just going to dig in. If you guys are joining late, just comment below say hi, let me know if you have any follow-up questions, and I hope you guys are having a great day today.

(05:38)
We’ll start with question one, which is from Emily Fontes, and she asks how to pitch for guest spots on bigger podcasts. Okay. So Emily, I did talk about this in one of my podcast episodes, but I’ll just give you like a super quick recap. In essence, when I have a big show that I want to pitch, I’m going to send them like a super casual email or a voice DM after I have become front of mind for them. What does that mean?

(06:09)
It means that I’m all up in their business. I’m liking their stuff. I’m in their Instagram stories sometimes for months, like showing them that I care and that what they’re doing is impacting me. And then I like to send a voice text or a voice DM and say like, hey, what’s up, you get a million pitches. But I had this idea about what I could teach your market that I haven’t seen on your show yet. And here’s the deal like I have a smaller reach than you, but my reach is really deep.

(06:40)
I promise to promote you across all the platforms. And I just want to serve your audience. I don’t even have a pitch. I want to make, I just want to be of service because your show has been of so much service to me. So you’re coming from this place of really caring. And it also goes direct to that person.

(07:00)
If you email, you’re going to get blocked, you’re going to get pitched blocked by the VA. Right? So I like to do that voice DM and then follow up with an email that says a similar thing. And you still get a ton of no’s, but it doesn’t mean no forever. There’s been times where I’ve heard no and then I go and I continue to cultivate the relationship. And a year later it was a yes. So that is my very informal process for getting on bigger podcasts. And it works.

(07:30)
You guys, I have been on shows with 15 million downloads, with 7 million downloads. And it all came from authentically reaching out and sharing what I wanted to do for their audience. Not what’s in it for me. Okay. Not look at me. I’m so fancy. It was from a heartfelt space of why I wanted to serve them.

(07:48)
Okay, we’re going to move on Helena Grace Donald asks, I’m trying to figure out how the podcast categories work on iTunes. For example, when I click on categories, I see a list, but I’m not even sure if I fit into any of those categories. And then I hear of people charting number one in Christian moms, just an example. And I’m wondering how that category is defined. Okay.

(08:12)
So Helena, there is no category called Christian moms. You can claim that you’re in a category because you’re in a niche. However, when you are actually choosing a category inside of Apple, you only have so many to choose from. So you really have to think about where would my avatar be searching, which of these categories would they be hanging out in to look for the answers that they’re seeking or to look for the stuff that I teach.

(08:42)
So for example, if you’re teaching entrepreneurship for moms, you really have to ask yourself, should I be inside of entrepreneurship as my number one category? Or should I be inside of let’s say, parenting, because I’m talking to moms. So I want you guys to remember, it’s not who the person is. It’s what the person’s searching for.

(09:04)
So if I’m an entrepreneur and a mom, I’m going to be looking in the entrepreneurship space in that category. Next, what you really want to think about is which category is going to maybe set you apart a little bit more so than a big category. So for example, if that Christian entrepreneurship podcast has the choice of being in business or being an entrepreneurship as category one, which one would you guys choose? We would choose entrepreneurship, right? Because that’s a smaller category then business in and of itself. If that makes sense.

(09:40)
How do you guys find your ranking? You’re going to use Chartable.com. It’s free. Go get registered and put in the name of your show and the Chartable website will search for your RSS feed and then you’ll have to update it every so often to find your ranking. Now I will tell you, I have been ranked number 27 at my best moments, and I’ve also been unranked. So it’s very, very volatile.

(10:10)
Don’t freak out if you are not ranked right away, or if you are ranked right away and then you’re not ranked because it’s all based on what’s happening right now in this moment. So if you’re not getting a ton of downloads and reviews at that moment, maybe it’s a Sunday or something. Your rankings are going to be affected. It’s a moving scale. So I go in there, I check, I don’t sweat it, but if I have a great rate ranking or rating, I’ll use it for marketing.

(10:39)
I’ll say I’ve reached number 27 in my category, in my entrepreneurship category. It’s great to market using that. Okay. You’re not going to always stay at that ranking unless you really, really make it big because it’s based on so many moving variables. Okay.

(10:56)
Let’s move on to the next question. So Kate Reuter asks, is there a way to get a notification when you get a new review or rating. In iTunes? I do not believe so. Somebody else may have a different answer for that, but as far as I know, there’s no way to get an alert. Next question was from Liz Hammond. I just read somewhere that you have up to eight weeks from your launch date to try and make new and noteworthy. Is there any truth to that? Yes. You do have eight-ish weeks to make new and noteworthy.

(11:34)
Now, the reason in Podcast Pro I really have you guys try to hit new and noteworthy in your first week is because one, and here’s the weird thing about new and noteworthy. You can do everything right, and still not get there and you can do everything wrong and get there. So we don’t know the secret sauce. We don’t know, maybe it’s political. I don’t know. We don’t know the secrets to new and noteworthy, but here’s what we know.

(12:00)
We can try to hit new and noteworthy by getting as many downloads as possible and as many written reviews as possible in one week. So I’ve had clients do it before, where they’ve actually hit that category, following that criteria. And then I’ve had people literally blow it out of the park, like a hundred reviews. She hit number four, you guys in her category, like 50 reviews and she didn’t hit new and noteworthy. So there’s just no logic to how they choose people.

(12:33)
All you can do is your best. And it is what it is. So I really wouldn’t put a lot of weight in, oh, I didn’t hit it. Look so many people don’t hit it. People that do incredible. Really what you want to focus on ladies is traction in reviews. Because when I go and I look at someone show, I mean, immediately checking out reviews. How many reviews do they have? And what are those reviews look like before I even consider them as a guest.

(13:02)
Before someone considers me, they’re looking at my show going, how many reviews does she have? What do those reviews look like? They’re reading any negative feedback. So, because we can’t see other people’s downloads, we can really only go by reviews. So that’s why I have you guys focus so heavily on your reviews in that first week. But yeah, Liz, you do have roughly eight weeks, but again, it’s a secret as to how do you really get on there? And you’ll see, like, people have done studies.

(13:32)
There’s so many blogs on this and someone will get in there that has six reviews and like five downloads and they get featured. All right, Joelle and Emily are wondering, so far my podcast episodes are all solo. I don’t have a desire to do interviews, but it might allow me to bump up to two episodes per week. Is this a good idea?

(13:54)
So here’s the deal with interviews, you guys, if you don’t have the desire and they’re not going to light you up, don’t do them because interviews are so much work. They really are. Here’s the pros and cons to interview. So the pros are, you have something new that you can add to your audience because people may or may not get tired of hearing from you.

(14:16)
When you guys go listen to your favorite shows, how do you feel about interviews? I actually prefer the solo shows of the people that I love. What do you guys think, do you prefer to hear your favorite pod-casters solo or do you also like when they do interviews? I love to hear my peeps rock on solo. I skip interviews sometimes, which is interesting. So that could be a pro or a con.

(14:41)
They are more work, but if that interviewee actually promotes you, it can be good publicity. So pro and con there as well, it’s more scheduling, sometimes less editing because at least for me, when I do an interview, we’re very casual and we’re back and forth. There’s really no editing. So I like that an interview has less to edit. So that could be a pro of an interview.

(15:09)
But here’s really the question for you, Emily. And for anyone else, that’s in this boat, do you enjoy interviews? Do you want to do interviews? If you are not lit up by talking to other people and finding the right people for your show and having them promote and doing contracts and releases and all these things, don’t do it. Even if it takes you to two a week, Emily. If it lights you up, do it.

(15:33)
Here’s another thing you guys, I want to really note this. There are no rules in podcasting. You can have a hundred percent solo show, Emily, and then go, ooh, I found someone super inspiring and will add a ton of value and throw a guest in there. Even if that’s the only guest ever. So what, it’s your show? I’ve been like, I’m not doing guests anymore and I’m going to a coaching model.

(15:52)
Then somebody just is so wonderful and I want them to be on the show and I bring them on like there’s no rules. Okay. I would however, think about Emily, if you are slower right now, how else can you do two episodes a week? How else can you bring in new content? Can you do SEO audits live on your show, or SEO mini sessions with somebody live on the show? Can you do a mini tip of the week or something different? It doesn’t have to be interviews. Okay. Let me know if that helps you. All right.

(16:23)
Michele Harkins asks, have you seen a plump in numbers on your podcast since quarantine? I like that word. Plump, Actually, my podcast has gone down. My downloads have gone down since quarantine right now. It’s down about 20% from where it typically would be mid month.

(16:44)
And I believe it’s because nobody’s driving. My audience are the commuter listeners, right? It’s the mamas. It’s all of you guys. So I’m not listening to as many podcasts. Are you guys? It’s just the time. It’s the timing. And so here’s what I’m doing.

(17:02)
I am still putting out my best work because I know when my girl is back in that car. And when she is back in that mindset, which is going to be sooner rather than later, she’s going to binge listen and she’s going to get all caught up. So I’m not letting it affect the content that I do produce.

(17:21)
Tessa Hull, random question warning. Okay. I’m still working on launching my podcast and I have my first three ready to record like you suggested. I also currently have a daily Facebook lockdown diary that is getting great interaction right now. And I put all this into a blog and had over 350 views and a ton of shares.

(17:41)
Now people are asking me to make it into a recording thing. How could I have these in my podcast, but make it clear. It’s outside the niche. Just entertainment stuff. Tessa, again, there is no rules in podcasting. Okay. So as long as it’s not like crazy outside your niche and it’s that same person that would care. Okay. She would care about this entertainment stuff.

(18:07)
Why don’t you just have like once a month you can put like random bonus episode or random bonus episode about blank, right? Like you can do whatever you guys want to do. And especially if your audience is asking for something, lean into it and see what happens. You guys, I did a live coaching episode on my show, like six months ago just because my audience asks for it. And then I saw three times the downloads, three times in one, whatever it was month. And I was like, okay.

(18:40)
So sometimes your audience is asking for something on purpose that’s going to help you become more aligned with what they need from you. So I think you absolutely should do it and just roll with it. And you guys open communication is the win. Just say, all of you are asking for this entertainment stuff. You guys are loving it over in the Facebook group. Come join the Facebook group. You’re going to love it. We have a ton of fun over there.

(19:03)
I decided I’m going to air them on the show because you guys are loving it so much. And if you don’t want to listen to this, don’t worry. You are welcome to skip this episode. So anytime I just communicate with my listeners, I feel like I’m covered. Okay. Kiana Norville asks my podcast is about manifesting and style.

(19:25)
Should I choose the art and fashion category to stand out instead of using spirituality? Okay. So Kiana, you really want to think about where’s the woman who’s really excited about manifesting. She’s super stylish. She’s I don’t know. I think of like LA or San Diego and you’re super into dancing at the moon, but also like looking fierce. Yeah. I dunno.

(19:51)
I really think that person probably not looking inside of art, they’re looking inside of spirituality. So get inside the brain of your listener ladies and ask yourself, what type of person is this and where is she hanging out? And here’s another thing to consider you guys did any of you go by category and search for podcasts. I’ve never once, except when I’m doing research for who I want to be on their shows, pod pitch.

(20:20)
I’ve never once gone into religion today and just browse. Maybe you guys do. I don’t know, but for me, I type in the terms of what I want to find. So I type in Christian mom or Christian entrepreneur or whatever I’m looking for. So I think my message here is don’t put so much weight in your category. It’s not a huge deal. The title of your show is more important.

(20:47)
The SEO in your descriptions are more important. The way that your channel art stands out is most important. Don’t worry about your category so much. Here’s another thing you can change it. I changed my category like three times since I started. So if that helps you. Okay, next question. Tessa Hull. I figured I could do it like the bonus content you suggested, and it would help with listens and shares. Yes, exactly. Anything you guys that adds value and makes your show more fun is a go.

(21:17)
Do bonuses. Get off schedule. If you get inspired and you want to do three this week, you go, girl, you go. Anything that makes you different than everybody else that’s in your podcast space. It’s great. Anything that you guys do that sets you apart from your other, everyone else that’s podcasting. Do it. Just make sure it serves your person, that your avatar won’t be turned off by it. Right?

(21:45)
So Tessa wouldn’t go and do a meal prep episode or something totally random to what her niche is. Well, it depends on your niche. If your numbers are down or not. But again, that literally has nothing to do with you and everything to do with the new norm. People are not in their cars as much. And people also are just not consuming right now as much as I normally would.

(22:07)
I’m like actually reading books and doing more with my family and my kids. And that’s okay with me. But here’s what I want you to know. When I get back in that car, you better be sure. My favorite three shows like I’m just going to binge listen to everything they’ve put out and I’m going to be in massive consumption mode. So don’t let it affect your quality of work and your focus right now. Okay.

(22:29)
Jacqueline asks, would you say this is a bad time to launch? Definitely not. I think this is such a great time to launch, Jacqueline because when else can you get in there and start serving her when she needs you the most. Your download numbers, maybe a little bit down, but not necessarily because you’re doing a whole launch strategy. You’re creating the list. You’re asking everybody to come and review for you. Like you’re running the launch.

(22:56)
Every single person that knows and likes and trusts you is going to go support your launch. So that’s not going to change anything. And why not start serving and setting yourself up as an expert in your space because come August, September, whenever that is, that magical month will be, people will be ready. They’re gonna be so ready. They’re going to be like, I need to get productive, get systems, do the meal prepping, do the planning, do the manifesting, do the whatever, get back into prayer journaling. Like we’re going to be ready. I think so.

(23:31)
I think we’re going to be bubbling over with pent up excitement for our businesses again. And so if you are already positioned, it’s a win. So don’t ever wait. Don’t ever wait to start serving you guys. And is your show here for, to serve. So people will be ready. Don’t ever, ever wait to start serving and solving. Okay.

(23:54)
Kiana asks so it seems that Pinterest is the only true vehicle to get more listeners to your podcast? Definitely not. Organic hype is my favorite thing ever. So I love it. When you guys share about my show or when I post about my show and somebody shares it, that I believe is the number one way to drive people because someone they trust is recommending a show.

(24:17)
So organic shares is probably one of my favorite ways. And that’s through usually Instagram stories, Facebook or word of mouth. So that’s great. You can also use really incredible SEO titles and descriptions, and you can do blogging that links your podcasts over to a blog. That’s amazing as well, right? Because the terms that you’re using inside of all your stuff is searchable.

(24:42)
Pinterest is an incredible way. Pinterest is probably my favorite next to just organic sharing. But Pinterest is incredible. People are telling me, Chelsi Jo Moore has had 4000% growth. I’m not kidding. One of the gals in my mastermind group, she is up to over 500% growth in Pinterest, all from my 96 minute masterclass. So if you guys want to grab that, it’s at pinterestmasterclass.gr8.com. All right.

(25:22)
Meisha Pigford says I’m brand new. Just joined. I also just launched my first online course last Friday. Now I want to launch a podcast. I was wondering if I should wait. No, you guys do not wait. You have more time and space. So launch, get it into the world. Put great content out there. I didn’t even do a launch, you guys, I just started my show. It was like, hi, I have a podcast and look, it’s fine. It’s amazing.

(25:50)
It’s my number one way that I run this business. So don’t wait and congratulations on your new course. All right guys, I just love y’all so much. Pray over each of you, that you are finding excitement and joy in this time of stillness and that you are leaning into the unexpected with excitement and anticipation because so many surprises and blessings are going to come out of this time. And I keep saying, I’m finding the miracles in the mess. I really am.

(26:21)
I pray that you guys are too, and that you are trusting in this process, that there will be incredible things that come out of this for you. And that you just keep going, tap into the energy reserves that you have and focus on what lights you up and do more of that in this time.

(26:36)
So I just want to let give you guys that little note of encouragement. Chelsi has one last question. Do you have advice on switching your niche on your podcast? I want to add in business and marketing. Yeah. Chelsi, if you’re going to switch or broaden your niche, just communicate it. Then think about if you need a total rebrand or not. So I just did an entire rebranding with the Unshaken Podcast with Megan Stratton.

(27:06)
They went from a duo show that talked about like Christian lifestyle to a completely new brand of sales and conversion as a solo show with Megan. So she actually needed an entire rebrand, right? Cause it’s a completely different topic. And so she kept the show, rebranded it and openly communicated that. And then she actually did a complete relaunch.

(27:28)
So you need to ask yourself, is this the same woman listening? And it’s just a bit more broad, cool. Just communicate. Or is this a different woman with a different pain point? I would recommend rebranding and relaunching. If that makes sense. All right, guys, I will see you later. I hope that this QA was helpful. See you soon.

(27:47)
Alright, friend, I hope you learned more about exploding your podcast. Maybe finally leaping into starting your own show and getting those questions answered because there is a solution to every single problem and I am here and the community is here to help you on your journey. If you’re not part of our amazing podcasting community yet come join us by taking the course and then getting free access right now to the membership community. You can do that at podcastprouniversity.com.

(28:18)
Let me help you grow this, et me help you do this right. Let me help you step into whatever that calling and mission is that you have so that you can impact people and really help others transform their lives with what you know how to do. I’m so excited, I’m here for it. I’m here to help you.

(28:35)
If you want to have the same success that I have had by finally just getting out of my own way and starting a podcast where I can serve and solve, now’s your time. There is no better time than right now. And if you wait, you’re just going to wish you had started sooner. Believe me. I wish I had started my podcast eight years ago, but alas, here we are. And so now is a better time than ever. Do not wait on your dream. Let’s go.

(29:03)
Finally, I just want to thank you guys so much for being part of my community. If you guys have been around for a minute, a hot minute, you’re a Lola. You know what I mean? And you have not left this show a review, please pause real quick, go head over to iTunes, leave me a written review. Screenshot the show into your Instagram stories. That is the number one way you can thank me.

(29:23)
I am just so grateful for every single one of you that take that 30 seconds to leave me that review, I appreciate it, I read every single review, and I reply to every single person on Instagram because you guys matter to me. And if I can serve you better or serve you in a deeper capacity, shoot me a voice DM. Let me know what you want me to train on, what you’re struggling with. I just want to know you. I want to support you. And I want you to know that you are seen, heard, and appreciated.

(29:52)
I am praying over you now that you are fueled with excitement over your business. That God provides you eerything you need and more to grow and scale this mission that He’s placed in your heart. I pray that you have more than enough time to accomplish all the things in your day that you are setting out to accomplish, that you can still be present with your kiddos, you can still find that time for you and that you have the provision and favor to do all the things that light up your life here so that you can serve others well. I will see you back here next week. Love and light, Stef.