Have you been thinking about leveraging podcast interviews to grow your business?
If so, you’re in for a treat! What better way to hear how to get results from Podcast Guesting than chatting with a real client (and success story) from a podcast guest booking agency?
I chatted with Julie Fry of Your Expert Guest and Danielle Hayden of Kickstart Accounting about why she started podcast guesting, her goals, how and why she pivoted her interviews, what metrics they tracked and the results it brought. Why didn’t I think of doing this interview sooner?
How Danielle Got Started With Guesting
- Leveraging podcast interviews as a guest is something that was suggested to her during a VIP day by Nikki Rausch
- She hadn’t thought about guesting as a way to share her voice
- For Danielle, it was easy to come up with topics to discuss as a guest for the fact that, when she started her guesting journey, she could tap into her 2-part book series The Profit Planner for interview content ideas
- She approaches all of this as a learning experiment. She did a lot of self-reflection and asked herself ‘What are the most common questions our clients ask us?’
How Danielle Found the Best Goal for Her Podcast Guesting Endeavors
- When the two connected, Danielle already had several podcast guest interviews after her belt. According to Julie, Danielle is ‘a highly sophisticated podcast guest’
- Danielle pivoted from the topic of the book to key pain-points her clients struggle with when she sat back and asked herself ‘What’s the goal of my podcast guest interviews?’
- Danielle’s goal wasn’t to sell more copies of her book, rather to work one-on-one with women business owners and help her understand their numbers through bookkeeping and strategy. That’s when she realized that her goal should be walking away from guest interviews booking discovery calls
- By tracking everything – email list signups, calls booked, etc., Danielle was able to identify the best type of podcast for her to be a guest on: industry podcasts that focused on the how-to of business.
How to Approaching Guest Interviews for a Better ROI
- Julie shares one of the biggest mistakes podcast guests make: focusing on too much of a broad audience
- Anyone doing podcast guesting shouldn’t worry about going on big shows, rather think about their ultimate goal, focus on podcasts that align with that and go at it hard
- Another important piece of guesting, Julie says, is the relationship with the host. Nurture that because they may become a referral partner for your business
- Avoid being transactional about your guest interviews but focus on fostering relationships instead
- Some hosts even ended up becoming clients of Danielle’s. Pay attention to “clues” hosts may leave during the interview and, if it makes sense, ask them if they would be interested in booking a strategy call (ask this after the interview)
‘The key, as a business owner, is to look at what you do, look at the numbers and see what’s working and what isn’t working – then act or pivot accordingly’
- The one aspect that has surprised Danielle the most are the relationships and connections that are created as a result of podcast interviews. She now sees podcasting as the best kind of networking tool
Podcast Guesting Expectations and Metrics to Track
- Through her onboarding process, Julie helps clients set reasonable expectations. She does so by asking some clarifying questions, such as ‘Are you trying to reach a national or international audience?’, ‘Would you like to grow the awareness of your own show?’, ‘Would you like to book more calls?’
- Julie helps clients understand that podcast guesting is a long-term game – that’s why clients work with her for a minimum of 6 months, having between two and four interviews a month
- Danielle tracks the number of shows she’s been featured on, the number of booked calls from each show, the number of clients acquired from those, and the generated revenue
- As an agency, Julie and her team track the number of ‘yeses’ your pitches get (she has heard that the industry average is 12% but she aims at getting clients 30% of more positive replies), and the topic or topics that seem to be the most appealing
- Recently, Julie’s agency has begun to look at the host’s occupation and at whether it aligns with their clients
ABOUT DANIELLE & JULIE
Danielle Hayden is a reformed corporate CFO (chief financial officer) who is on a mission to help rule-breaking female entrepreneurs understand their numbers so they can gain the confidence needed to create sustainable profits.
After spending 10+ years in the boardroom as a corporate finance officer, Danielle is now in her sweet spot as the CEO of Kickstart Accounting, Inc. where she helps business owners with bookkeeping, financial analysis, and education and as the author of the Profit Planner book series. When Danielle isn’t in her money mindset you can find her hiking or spending time with her family.
Julie Fry is the Founder of Your Expert Guest, a podcast guest booking agency for thought leaders that want visibility without spending HOURS on social media. She’s passionate about the magic that can happen in your business when you connect with the right podcast and host.
Julie and her team help entrepreneurs with everything they need to attract new clients from their podcast guest appearances.
Resources mentioned:
- LYP 35: What You Need to Know Before Hiring a Podcast Booking Agency with Julie Fry
- Danielle Hayden’s Kickstart Accounting and Entrepreneur Money Stories Podcast
- Get Julie Fry’s podcast guesting checklist over at YourExpertGuest.com/Checklist
- Nikki Rausch
- The Wedding Pro CEO Podcast with Brandee Gaar
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