Are you ready to get more visibility and establish yourself as an expert in your industry? In this episode of The Becky Beach Show, I sit down with Christina Lenkowski, a podcast pitching strategist who has helped countless entrepreneurs land interviews on top shows. She shares her proven strategies for pitching yourself as a podcast guest, how to craft a compelling pitch that stands out, and how podcast interviews can help you grow your audience and increase sales.
If you’ve been struggling to get booked on podcasts or aren’t sure where to start, this episode is packed with actionable tips to help you land interviews and make the most of your time on air.
Click here for Christina’s gift for you! | Facebook | Instagram
Christina’s Hey Bitch, Let’s Pitch Training!
Becky Beach: Well, hey everybody, welcome to the Becky Beach Show. I’m Becky Beach. In today’s episode, we have Christina Lankowski. She’s a podcast strategist. Welcome, Christina.
Hey, Becky. I am so, so excited to be here in front of your audience today and just really excited to share some knowledge with them and hopefully get them in front of even more of their ideal customers and clients.
Becky Beach: Oh, yes. I’m just so excited to have you here. I like a lot of my listeners are wondering how they can get more visible online. And from my understanding, podcasting is the best way.
Yeah. I mean, we’re, what we’re really going to talk about today is guesting on other people’s podcasts and kind of what that looks like and how you can be doing that [00:01:00] in your business, um, so that you can be continuing to grow.
Becky Beach: Oh, yes, of course. Yeah. Cause starting your own podcast can be kind of difficult, but getting on other people’s podcasts is a lot easier and more fun, I think. I mean, I’m a little biased,
but yes, I agree with you.
Becky Beach: Yeah. So, like, tell, tell, um, our audience, uh, if anyone’s interested in what exactly a, a PR is or PR strategy.
Becky Beach: Yeah.
I love that you asked this question because it is, you know, I could ask five different people what they think publicity is and get five different answers, right? There’s going to be people that are like, it’s what they do on Mad Men. There’s going to be people that are like, oh, it’s when you send press releases, right?
And so I really like to break it down like this, your marketing has three pillars, owned, earned, and paid. Okay? And so the paid is the stuff you can probably imagine is things that you pay for, right? So that might be ads that you place, uh, perhaps you do an influencer campaign or something like that, where you exchange money in exchange to get in front of new people.
Then there is [00:02:00] owned, and those are all the channels that you own, where you own the content on that, right? So that might be your social media. Your website your podcast if you have one you are in control of the content that is going out on those channels Right, and then finally we have earned and that is where publicity Comes into play and so what that means is no money is exchanged You are never paying to be a guest on a podcast.
Okay. I want to be really clear about that And that’s something I will go Off on, if given the opportunity, because I know that’s something people are running across more and more. Um, but with earned marketing, you are not paying, you are going on someone else’s platform to be sharing value. You are leveraging their audience and you are bringing knowledge and information to their audience, right, to get in front of.
And it is, by far, the most trusted form of marketing. And the reason for that is the [00:03:00] person. That is listening to you. Let’s say you’re listening to the show right now. You already love and trust Becky, right? You already know that what she says is exactly the type of advice that you want in your business.
So by association, when she brings me onto her platform, there is a different level of trust. there when you start hearing from me and you start listening to me talk, right? And so there’s just this huge know, like, and trust factor that expands when you have these kind of publicity opportunities like this.
Becky Beach: Yeah, I so agree. Yeah, I’ve run into people wanting me to pay them to be on podcasts, like actually on LinkedIn, not too long ago, they said, Oh, you’ll be a great fit. We have like a million reach. And I was like, pretty excited to get this opportunity. And then they sent me a pamphlet and I looked at it in the fine print.
Becky Beach: It says I got to pay like 300. like, Oh, it’s kind of kind of taken, taken aback.
Yes, as you should be as you should be. The thing that I always like to say here is like, there’s nothing wrong with you placing an ad on a [00:04:00] podcast. Like, if you decide that you want to place an ad on a podcast, like, I, and it’s the right audience, and it’s who you want to get in front of, I am all for it.
But that is the thing. It is an ad. Right? And the problem with a lot of these podcasters, and I, I think truly they just don’t know what they’re doing, but what happens is You pay money, and the second you pay money, that has now become an ad, which means that there is a different set of ethics, a different set of rules around it, and a lot of people don’t disclose that, um, they have paid to be on a show, right, or the show doesn’t disclose that that person has paid to be on there.
So as a listener, you’re really deceived when you find out, oh, that’s not just because they trust them and they want that knowledge that’s on there. Well, that’s because they paid to be on there and it just takes your credibility, um, you know, tanks, everything else from there. So
Becky Beach: I
do think a lot of people do it without knowing what they’re doing, but that is kind of the main issue around it is that disclosure.
Becky Beach: Yeah, I do hear about like podcast takeovers. [00:05:00] Like this one lady was emailing, you know, and asking if anyone wanted to take over her podcast. So you would just be on there as a host and record, and then she just puts it on her, her podcast for people to listen to you. Like, what do you think of that?
I mean, I, was it a paid opportunity or just she was asking people to
Becky Beach: do it?
Becky Beach: Yes, it was, uh, I guess she wanted like 700, 700 and you could, um, like do like a, like a takeover because she said she wasn’t, she didn’t have the time to be on her podcast for a while. So she was going to have people do paid, you know, spots to take over it. And honestly, I never heard of that. Like, what do you, do you think that was a good opportunity?
I think that it’s a good opportunity as long as it’s being disclosed, right? Like if she’s like, hey, this episode is sponsored by XYZ, right? Or this episode is brought to you by so and so, they’re also going to be the host today. Something like that, that makes it apparent of like, there was money exchanged here.
Um, I think that that’s fine. Uh, I don’t, my only thing would be as an audience member, would I love that? I don’t know. Um, uh, but. I don’t think that necessarily the [00:06:00] idea is a bad one. Um, again, as long as everyone’s being upfront about what’s kind of going on.
Becky Beach: Yeah. I personally would never do that to my listeners.
Becky Beach: Just to have someone new come on because that could turn them off. Like I, I keep hearing about people selling their podcast to other people and then they don’t really introduce a new person and it suddenly start filming on their podcast. And, and a lot of people can get confused and turned off.
Yeah, absolutely.
That would be my main fear. If I was to do that, at least, especially for an extended period of time would just be is are people going to even want to listen, you know, after this, after they’ve kind of had these random people been hosting the show, maybe they enjoy it, but maybe, but maybe not.
Becky Beach: Oh, yeah. So let us know like how you got started being a podcast PR special specialist.
Yeah, so I, um, started in the world of PR right out of school, um, actually right after a year of travel, and I started to do PR was a really good mix for me, um, of writing and also getting to still be really social, which is what I wanted to do. [00:07:00] Um, and so I worked for all of these different kinds of companies, agencies, etc.
Before I had my daughter, um, and then I decided that I was going to go off on my own. Um, and I did what probably a lot of people that are listening in here did, which is like, I was like, I’m going to have a course. Okay, like I’m gonna start a course. This is it. I’m gonna have this course It’s obviously gonna make a million dollars in my sleep.
Like I don’t have to do anything, you know, it’s gonna be great, right? and So I did that I created a course all about PR for tourism Regions that was really my area of expertise was tourism PR. I worked in a lot of different things but that was like my bread and butter and So I did that and I just thought it was gonna sell I just thought like oh I put it out into the world And obviously it’s just going to sell great, you know, basically it was like, we’re done here and in a surprise to no one but me, that was not how it went right?
And, um, I realized, oh, I need to be putting [00:08:00] more effort into this to actually have this be selling. Right? Um, we all want to have those passive things. And I’m, I mean, same, like, I totally get it. But we still have to be getting out in front of audiences, marketing, right, et cetera, so that they know those things are even there, even available, et cetera.
So what I did after that kind of first disastrous launch that I had was I tapped back into my intuition and I was like, you, you know how to do this. You’ve done PR now for well over a decade, like start sending some pitches. And at that point, um, podcasts, this was like 2018. Uh, and so podcasts were still, they were a thing, but they weren’t the thing that they are today, right?
Like the pandemic and stuff like that really exploded podcasts in a different way, but I started to just pitch myself onto shows that had the ideal audience. And it was night and day in my business. Um, that note, like, and trust factor was upped a lot. Um, people were wanting me to speak. They were just buying my course.
Uh, and it just kind of took off from [00:09:00] there. And when the pandemic did happen, I. Realize that I kind of wanted to lean more into teaching people how to do this themselves. And so I did that. But by the end of that year, I had a lot of people that were just like, Hey, could you just do it for me? Um, is this a service that you’d be willing to offer?
And it took me a little bit of time to decide I was going to do that. But once I did. went in and we’ve been doing it for many, many years now and have an agency and a team and all that type of good stuff that does this work now.
Becky Beach: Yeah. So for anybody listening, maybe they’re wondering like, well, how do I pitch myself?
Becky Beach: I’m so bad at self promotion. You know, I don’t really want to sound too like a, like a high on my horse, you know, like, what do I do to pitch myself?
I think a big thing you need to remember is that this is about service and not self promotion, right? So like, The host is going to ask, you know, just like Becky just did, Hey, how did you get to where you are today?
Right. But for the most part, you are there to provide value. You are there to provide knowledge, right? I’m not, no one wants to listen to someone on a podcast to [00:10:00] talk about themselves for a half hour or 40 minutes or whatever. We’re talking about whatever that real area is that we love to talk about or we’re an expert in or whatever that is.
So I really do try to tell my, my clients, like, just look at it as service over self promotion. That’s, that’s truly what it is. Like, people want to know you. They want to have that authentic, you know, piece of you and view of you, et cetera. Um, but it’s not going to be just you talking about yourself.
Becky Beach: Yeah, I so agree.
Becky Beach: I, I have been on, I mean, I’ve, um, listened to podcasts before with a person just talking about themselves the whole time and they’re not really contributing anything that they’re trying to get people to buy their course, they’re not really helping, they’re just trying to promote and that really turned me off.
Becky Beach: Like I’ll usually just flip off and then go to something else.
Yep. Absolutely. I mean, if I, if I were to hear that, I’d be the same way. I’d be like, okay, well now I never want to buy from you. You know what I mean? Like I was maybe interested in it before, but like now I’m out, you know, whereas the opposite effect happens so [00:11:00] much, right?
Someone has never heard about you. Um, they, they listen to you on a podcast, you bring amazing value, you are your true authentic self, and then they’re ready to work with you, or they’re ready to buy from you, right? They’re, they’re like, this is the person that I want to learn whatever that particular thing is from.
Becky Beach: Was there such a thing as, um, giving away too much value? Like, did you ever run into that?
I mean, I, I really don’t think so. And the reason that I, that I say that is most people aren’t going to do it. Most people aren’t gonna do it. That’s just the fact of the matter, right? Like, I could sit here and run through exactly how we send pitches, right?
And I’m happy to talk about Some of the things that we do when we’re sending pitches. But the fact of the matter is, is a lot of people aren’t going to do that. Right. They’re, um, they’re going to want to have a course that puts it all together for them, or they’re going to want to be able to just hire someone that could do that on their behalf.
Right. Um, so I don’t get too stressed about giving out like too much information. Um, just in the sense that, that for most people, it’s [00:12:00] not, it’s probably not still going to be enough.
Becky Beach: Well, how do you, uh, recommend people reach out to different podcast hosts just, just to drag them into cold message them and then pitch and like, what do you, what do you think of that?
Yeah, we do most of our work is cold pitching. I mean, we’ve worked with over a thousand podcasts at this point in our agency. So like we do have a lot of connections, but a lot of the work that we’re, we’re doing is cold. And so that should absolutely give you power to know that, like, you can be doing this, right?
And so the way that you kind of do that is you’re going to send an email pitch, right? So you’re going to have a little bit of information about yourself, and then you’re going to dive into a couple topics that you think would make a lot of sense for that audience. So again, we’re getting into that service over self promotion.
You are not Giving topics that just talk about you or talk about how great you are. They are what are the things that I can be providing your audience with that I think will be of value. Um, and so you’re going to come with two or three topics there, kind of flesh them out a little bit. I think [00:13:00] that the reason I kind of like to say this is, 9.
9 out of 10 times when we send a pitch, the host chooses one of those topics. Okay. Yes. Yes. It is very important that you do this. And the reason that I’m kind of harping on this a little bit is I think that some people think they’re doing a favor to the host by just saying, Hey, here are the five things that I’m an expert in.
Right. And they just kind of bulleted bullet them out. Right? Like they’re like, Hey, I’m an expert in marketing, branding, sales, right? Whatever. And then it’s like, you tell me what you want to talk about and I’m down to talk about it. Right. But you are just providing another chore for that host. Right. Um, this goes back to my journalism days at Oregon state, like, you know, back in the, in the early two thousands of like, you want to make it as easy as possible to get to the yes.
Right? And so that’s what we’re really looking to do with our pitches as well. And I’m sure as a host, you yourself, who’s seen a lot of pitches, can kind of talk about some of the things that really [00:14:00] catch your eye when someone sends something over.
Becky Beach: Oh yes, like for instance, like I have, you’re right, I have been getting pitched quite a lot.
Becky Beach: But I, I’m not really pitching myself. I’m, I’m just been focusing on my own podcast for it, like, because I’m just trying to get it to 100 episodes. So, I have been receiving a lot in this, um, and, and what made you stand out, and also this other lady that was on previously, my, I think her, Dylan Jaharis, like she does Etsy, like she was on previously.
Becky Beach: And I think what made both of you stand out was it’s just you’re, you’re given so, so, so much good value that I don’t have currently, like, I have no shows on pitching for podcasts and I have no shows really on selling specifically on Etsy. Like, so that, that’s what made them stand apart. So I do recommend, you know, listening to the, the, the podcast, um, post show to see what they’ve done before.
Becky Beach: Cause if you’re bringing something to the table, they’ve already covered, they’re more likely not to answer you. Would you agree?
A hundred percent. I agree. And there’s also ways to kind of handle that if they [00:15:00] have had someone on that talks about something similar that you do. So this is, uh, this is something that I personally have run across before.
Like there are other people that do podcast pitching or teach podcast pitching, right? So sometimes if I do go to a show or we go to a show and I see, hey, maybe, uh, six months ago, a year ago, they had someone else on that was talking about podcast pitching. Cool. What I’ll do when I go to, so that doesn’t mean I’m like.
I’m not going to pitch that show. It just means that I’m going to mention, Hey, I saw that you had so and so on about six months ago to talk about podcast pitching, loved the episode. Maybe say something that you really liked about the show. And then I would say, what I would love to do is to talk with your listeners about how to get to the next level with their pitching or what to be doing when they, when the host actually says yes.
Right. Or how to be. You know, uh, reconstituting the episodes into more content, right? You can acknowledge that they’ve had someone on to talk about something similar. You just make sure that you’re bringing different [00:16:00] topics to the table, right? And I think that for most hosts, That’s especially if it’s been six months, nine months, a year, two years since they’ve had someone else on, they’re going to be really open to hearing that other idea, right?
That doesn’t mean, oh, we had someone on once and now we’re done forever. It’s like, oh no, if you’re going to come on and you’re going to provide more value, even better.
Becky Beach: Oh, yeah, but just just don’t cover the same things the other person did, but yeah, you’re right. If it was a really long ago, maybe they could do a refresher, especially if that episode happened to be popular for them.
Becky Beach: And they say, Oh, well, like, like, my listeners are interested in this topic, you know, so so and so would be a great fit. So that could also be like a fit for you. That can also be a great option or great opportunity.
Love that. Yeah. And I think you’re exactly right. It’s the hosts are also looking at, you know, they they want great content.
Right. So if they can also go a little deeper on a, on a certain topic, that’s great for them too.
Becky Beach: Yes. What would you say the biggest challenge of podcast [00:17:00] pitching is?
Um, I think that for a lot of people it’s the uncertainty or the unknown, right? Like we send a lot of pitches that we never hear back from.
And so I want to be very clear that like, that’s going to happen. Um, so don’t let that be something that holds you back of being like, well, If I don’t hear yes from everybody that I send a pitch to, this obviously isn’t working. It’s like, no, that’s, that’s not how this is going to look, right? And so what I really recommend is having a pitch template that you create.
Um, this is something I have a training on that I teach on, um, so that you are 90 percent of the way done, right? When you are sending a pitch, you already have most of it written. So you are just. Listening to a little bit of the episode, like you talked about before, personalizing that pitch, seeing which of the topics you have listed out make the most sense for that host, and then you’re hitting send.
Because the fact of the matter is, you’re gonna send out quite a few pitches to get the shows that you wanna, you’re, you know, the episodes that [00:18:00] you wanna be getting on. And so I think that’s important to recognize. I also think you need to recognize that Particularly if you haven’t been on shows before, or you’ve been on very few, don’t be going after the biggest shows.
Yeah, yeah. This is a big one that people get really caught up in. They’ll be like, well, I don’t want to do it unless I’m only getting on the biggest shows, right? The Amy Porterfield, the Jenna Kutcher, the Pat Flynn, the whatever it is in your particular you know, area. And I think that you’re doing yourself a huge disservice when you look at it that way.
Um, and our clients, I mean, we have case study after case study. They make way more money being on shows that are maybe smaller or more niched, but they are the exact. audience that really, really wants to hear from that person. Then getting them on some of the biggest shows, which is great for their credibility, don’t get me wrong, but it doesn’t necessarily make them as much money.
And so I think this is a really important thing for you to kind of [00:19:00] think about is like, what is my end goal? Is my end goal that I want to Um, have more money in the bank. I want to make more sales. I want to have more clients, right? And in that case, be looking at those niche podcasts. Be looking at the ones that might be a little bit smaller, but full of the right people.
Um, or are you more so just looking for, for logos, right? Um, are you more so just looking for getting on the biggest shows and that’s it? And I’m not even saying there’s anything wrong with that. I just want you to think about what is that goal. And then you can always set a goal to have like a big show that you want to be on and work your way towards it.
Becky Beach: Yeah, I so agree. Like, I’ve been, like, I did aim to get on a big show and I was, that was successful. Like, I did, uh, I just decided to pitch myself using Harrow. It’s like Helper Reporter. Oh, nice. Yeah. And now they changed it to Connectively. But, um, but one of these, one of these big podcasters named Nick Loper of SideHustle Nation, I put out a query looking for podcast guests or somebody on his behalf.
Becky Beach: Yeah. I decide a message and then I end up getting on the [00:20:00] podcast and I was able to get several new clients that signed up for my one on one coaching and my membership.
Yeah. Love that. And
Becky Beach: that was a really great experience. So, like, I don’t know if I could get lightning in the bottle again and get on another big podcast, but I’ve been trying like I sometimes I’ll I don’t do it enough.
Becky Beach: You know, like, how best do you recommend to do it to pitch, pitch other podcasts?
Well, one thing I was going to say before that is like, you went on Nick’s and you knew that that was a really good fit for you and his audience was the right fit. So what I would do is actually put Nick’s name into Apple podcasts, see what shows he’s been on.
And those might be some good ones for you to be pitching and just dropping, Hey, I was on Nick’s show. I know he’s been a guest, you know, et cetera, et cetera. But that could be a really great segue onto maybe some other bigger shows. Because you did that one with Nick, right? Um, when it comes to how often we pitch, so I really like to say, when it comes to pitching, I think You can always, [00:21:00] of course, this can always vary, but I would plan on 20 to 30 percent of the pitches that you send to be you hearing back from the host.
Right? And ideally, of course, that’s a yes or a let’s talk further, right? Or something like that. But it could also be a no, right? Um, it just does depend. Um, but let’s say with that, I really love the goal that I would ask you to set. is an average of two times a month you are being on podcasts. Okay. So some people are like, wow, that doesn’t really seem like a lot.
That is 24 podcasts over a year. And I can pretty much tell you that if you have been on 24 podcasts over a year, your business is going to look different than it did at the beginning of that year. Right. These are the right audiences for you to be getting in front of. And so I think that’s a great goal.
So with that in mind, Let’s say what I like to kind of recommend for people. A lot of people get really hung up and thinking I can’t like they [00:22:00] just they can’t pitch weekly. Okay, it becomes too much. It becomes overwhelming. They just keep pushing it to the side and it doesn’t get done. Right? So what I really recommend for folks is to do a quarterly pitch sprint.
This is also something I teach in the training where I talk about pitch templates too. And that is where once a quarter you are setting aside a full day. You are blocking off a full day. There is nothing else that you are going to be doing. And you are going to be pitching. Okay, you already have your pitch template made, but you are going to be sending out, let’s say 15, 15 to 20 ish pitches on that day, going to be doing follow up a couple weeks later, and you’re going to see where you’re ending up with the goal being that you are on around six shows per quarter, right?
Um, so that’s kind of the, the goal that I would have set for people there.
Becky Beach: Oh, that that’s a that’s a wonderful tip. So, like, what if you don’t hear back? Like, do you like track it in a spreadsheet and just follow up if you don’t hear back after a [00:23:00] certain time? Or what would you recommend to do?
That’s exactly what I recommend.
A simple spreadsheet is totally fine. We call it a pitch tracker. That’s what we call it, like, internally that we use, but absolutely put the name of the show, the contact info, the date that you pitched it. One reason I really like a quarterly pitch sprint is that it also means I can batch my follow up like two weeks later, right?
So anywhere from like two to four weeks later, be sending out a follow up and it doesn’t have to be anything super, you know, you don’t feel like it’s going to take you a little bit of time. Just be like, Hey, Becky, just wanted to check in on the below. I really think that I’d be a great guest on the show and could bring some value.
Thanks so much. Right. Or reach out with any questions or whatever. So and then I just forward. obviously the original email that I sent so they can see the topics I had below and stuff like that. Um, so absolutely I recommend a follow up if you have the time and the ability to, I would also do a second follow up.
Um, but what I like to do in the second follow up, and that’s typically like another [00:24:00] three or four weeks later, um, I would send a different topic idea. Um, so what I like to do in that second follow up is I’ll be like, hey, Maybe none of these resonated with you. Here’s one more that I think could be a good fit for your audience.
You already have the topics in your pitch template. So you’re, you’re not having to recreate the wheel here. You’re just copy and pasting another one that you think could be a good fit. Um, and see if that gets you the booking. We’ve certainly had that work for, uh, us getting bookings before for clients.
Um, so yeah, that’s something that I recommend as well.
Becky Beach: Well, what if you feel like you’re just bothering the people? Do you, do you have people feeling like that?
No, not if you’re not, if you’re only following up every, if you follow up two times and you follow and you’re talking like two to three weeks in between.
Your emails. I don’t think any host is going to be annoyed by that. What they get annoyed by is people that follow up with them after one day,
Becky Beach: right?
And then they follow up again after a second day, right? Or something like that. You being, and by the way, we’re being very [00:25:00] respectful. We’re just saying, Hey, did you get a chance to see this?
Would love to be a guest. We’re not saying why haven’t you written me back? Right? And the reason that I say that is because. People will literally say to hosts, like, well, why are you not writing about, like, I, this is the perfect fit. Like, why, why would we not, like, why would you not have me on, right?
That’s not the host’s job to tell you, you know, anything like that. It is your job to pique their interest enough that they’re going to say, yes, I absolutely want to have you on.
Becky Beach: Yeah. Yeah, I have, um, like, so sometimes I will ignore, like, I try to respond when somebody does pitch me, but a lot of times I don’t, because I still don’t have the time, because I’m getting somebody to pitch, because my podcast is getting more visibility, I’ve, I’m now on my, this will be my 76th or 77th episode.
Becky Beach: Oh, congrats.
That’s amazing.
Becky Beach: Yeah. Yes. And I’ve been working really hard on my podcast and I am starting to get a bunch more people wanting to be on it. Like before nobody ever messaged me, but now I’m seeing a big uptick and people wanting to be on the podcast. And I can’t, I can’t answer every email [00:26:00] that I get.
Becky Beach: So a lot of times I will ignore it. Sometimes I’m being rude. It’s just, I don’t have the time or they’re not a good fit.
You’re
Becky Beach: just human. You’re just
human. You got a life, you got a family. Right. And that’s the thing to remember is like these podcast hosts or the producers or whatever, they’re just human.
Right. So that’s why. I never mind when someone sends me a respectful follow up like a couple weeks after they sent me an email. That doesn’t annoy me at all. And so I guess I feel like for a host they feel the exact same way, right? And we’ve had I mean, I can’t even tell you how many bookings we’ve had that were done on follow up, right?
And even where a host says, thank you so much for following up with me. I flagged this and I hadn’t had a chance to write back. Yes, I want to move forward with doing a booking, right? Or maybe they have a question or something like that. Um, so don’t feel weird about doing the follow up if you’re doing it in a.
respectful way and with a couple weeks distance in between.
Becky Beach: So like, what if you, you get accepted? Well, how do you prepare to be on their podcast?
Yes. Great question. First, you’re going to pop some champagne. [00:27:00] No, I’m just kidding. Whatever though. That feels good to you because it is awesome when we get a yes, but it can also be a little terrifying.
I definitely, for people, they’re like, Whoa, I did it. And now I have to actually do it. Right. Right. Yeah. So I totally get that. And I think that a big thing I say to my clients and stuff like that is a couple of my tips are within 48 hours before you’re going to do a recording, listen to an episode. Of the host show.
Okay. Um, you may have listened to it before when you pitched, but I want you to re listen to it with fresh ears. Kind of get an idea. What is the vibe? What are we, you know, what is, are there kind of any questions that he or she always asks, you know, et cetera, that you can kind of get an idea of, but you don’t need to be sitting there taking notes like copiously, whatever.
I just want you kind of listening. You could be on a walk, you could be driving your car, you could be doing whatever, but just kind of giving you that idea. Like, uh, when I hopped on with Becky before we hit record, um, I let her know, Hey, when I was on my morning walk, I was [00:28:00] listening to an episode of your show from December.
Right. So I always think that it’s very cool to, um, to be able to kind of let that host know too, like. Hey, I’ve been paying attention, right? I’m not just showing up here blind. I know what you talk about and who you talk to, and I’m super excited for this episode. And that just kind of instills that confidence in the host of like, this is gonna be good, right?
This person knows what they’re doing, what we’re talking about, etc. there. So that’s a huge tip that I have is just make sure you’re listening um, to an episode.
Becky Beach: Yeah, totally agree. Another thing I recommend is what I’ve been doing. Personally, is I’ll prepare a freebie with a very easy to remember link.
Becky Beach: Like that’s what I did for Nick Loper’s podcast, a very easy to remember link to just verbally say it on the air. And then I had so many people sign up to this link. I had lots of email subscribers. I’ll say maybe over a hundred signed up to this freebie.
Love that. And absolutely the call to action is something you need to be prepared for.
Um, [00:29:00] so just like Becky’s saying, at the end of literally every podcast episode that you record, the host is going to say to you, Hey, how can people find out more about you? Right. Or how can they learn about how to work with you? And you want to be able to direct them somewhere solid, right? And so what I recommend is having a page and this can just be a landing page on your website.
It does not need to be like, Anything fancy, right? But on there you have a freebie and you have ways for people to be able to get in touch with you. Okay? Um, your social media channel links, right? If that’s something that, that you want to there. Cause people are very interesting, like a couple years ago, everybody would just get the freebie.
Download a freebie, get on the email list, move forward from there. That does still happen, but I see more and more where people are following someone on social. Before they go and sign up for a freebie. Okay. Like they kind of want to, they kind of want to suss it out a little bit more before they let them in their email inbox.
Right. So they might go follow them on LinkedIn, might go follow them on [00:30:00] Instagram, whatever. Um, but I think that that’s important to have on there. The other thing that I think is important is something that people can buy now or schedule now on that page, that landing page that you have that you’re directing people to.
Becky Beach: Oh, I love that idea. Yeah.
Oh, yeah, because there’s a lot of people that like, they don’t need to be nurtured. They are ready. Like they just heard you on that podcast. They like what you had to say, and they are ready to go. And we have like one of our, uh, she’s a long term client of ours, um, who runs a really successful email marketing membership, low cost email marketing membership.
And that was like, People would come and they would just buy like they would just come and it would sign up like they didn’t need a freebie. They didn’t need anything like that. They loved her. They loved what she had to say and they loved it. This was it was an affordable option for them to just get started on right away, right?
Now, for those of us who are service providers, that’s where you really have the opportunity where people can just book a call, right? Or apply or something where they can be moving quickly. [00:31:00] Um, to be getting on with you and ideally coming into your service in that way. Right.
Becky Beach: Okay, well, I just had a thought that I think, you know, like, well, I just want to see what you think about it.
Becky Beach: Well, like, what if you did make one of these pages, but depending on your topic, like, let’s say you’re talking to several podcasts, but you’re given different topics, and for each topic you talk about, you have a separate page where you have, like, a particular training, a particular freebie, and you even give it a special domain, so it’s easy to remember and say over the air, like, what do you think of that?
I think it’s a lot when people are new to podcasting.
Becky Beach: Oh, yeah. Like, yeah,
like if you’ve been doing this for a while and you have the ability to track it, abso friggin lutely, 100%. But if you are someone that you’re just getting started with this, one page, and you can have a couple freebies on it, right?
Like maybe you have two freebies that are available that kind of speak to a couple different audiences that you have, right? Then under that your social channels then under that, you know Something that someone can buy or sign up [00:32:00] for or something like that there, right? But my key I guess the point i’m making is I don’t want you to be overwhelmed With like feeling like you have to do all that One page that like becky said is really easy url for you to remember whether you do just like a vanity url or whether it’s like Publicity by Christina backslash booked, right?
That’s one we used to use for podcasts, right? Something that’s just very simple for people to get to, um, is fantastic. Uh, but yeah, if you have the ability to track further than that, awesome. But if you’re just getting started or getting going. One page is all you need and that you’re never going to forget what that, what that URL is there either.
Becky Beach: Oh, yeah, I just totally agree. So like, well, going back to your previous, you know, response, well, how can we find you and get to know what you’re doing?
What? I can’t believe you’re asking that. Give me that a great way to find out more about what we do is to head to podcastpublicityquiz. com see nice and easy to remember there.
Um, and that’s a great way to [00:33:00] know, uh, if this is something that you’re interested in, if it might make sense for you to have a DIY training, or if it might make more sense to have our team be doing some of this pitch work on your behalf, um, so you can head there and it’s a really fun video quiz where you kind of get to, uh, talk with me a little bit in there.
Becky Beach: Oh, definitely. I’ll have that in the show notes at Becky Beach show. com. And do you have any last words to say to our audience, Christina?
I do. The last thing I want to say to your audience is you can do this. Mm-hmm . And what I mean by that is there are a lot of people out there that are listening to this show right now that are like, huh, I’m never doing that
Right? Like the thought of, oh yeah, yeah. No, the thought of going on someone’s podcast terrifies them. Right? Oh. Like, they’re like, what if I say something wrong? What if, um, what if no one thinks I’m an expert right after going on the show or something like that? And I’m here to say to you, first of all, most of our clients are introverts.
So for those of my introverts out there, please know that you’re in good company. You just have to have a one on one conversation. Okay. So it works really, really well for, uh, for introverts. But secondly, the thing that I want you [00:34:00] to think about is. What’s the worst that can happen? Like, what do you truly think is the worst that can happen?
Most of these recordings, like even today before I hopped on, or Becky and I did hit record, she was like, hey, if something happens, if, you know, someone walks in or something like that, we can always just re record, right? We can always just cut it out. You know what I mean? And I want you to know that that is how 99 percent of podcasts are, okay?
They’re not live. The host is not out to get you. Okay. They’re not trying to get you stumbling on your words or saying something wrong or, you know, something like that. They’re trying to put out a good quality show for their audience as well. Okay. I have definitely had times where I have. Accidentally stumbled, accidentally swore, you know, all these things that have happened when I’ve been doing an episode and either it stays in there because that’s me, right?
Or B, they’re able to edit it and I’m able to just say it again, right? In that way. So, I want you to know that I truly, truly believe the worst thing that can happen is you don’t put yourself out there. Because the fact of [00:35:00] the matter is, if your business does not grow, you are not going to be making money.
And we are here, you know, I know Becky’s here talking to y’all. I’m here talking to y’all as entrepreneurs, as business owners, as people that are trying to make money. So we have to be getting out there and podcasts are a wonderful way for you to be doing that.
Becky Beach: Yeah. So agree. So again, make sure to check out the show notes at beckybeatshow.
Becky Beach: com and I’ll have Christina’s quiz and also her website or social media, like all her goodies for you available there. So again, beckybeatshow. com. Well, thanks so much, Christina, for being here today. Thank you, Becky. Happy to be here. Okay. Bye everyone. Bye bye. Thanks so much for listening to the Becky Beach show.
About Christina
I’m a podcast pitch pro, and love helping underrepresented speakers and authors step into the spotlight.
15 years in PR has resulted in 1000s of pitches, 100s of placements and bookings (for me + my clients), not to mention all the new voices I’ve helped facilitate hitting the airwaves.
