Creating Standards Where They Don't Exist

The podcasting industry is the wild wild west...

It’s been almost 3 weeks since my book launched and I’ve now had my cover on a posterboard, ornament, cookies, a pie and a cake! Steph over at Pie Lady Books made my dream come true with her pie of my book cover!

Setting Standards

I’m very Type-A. I like organization, to do lists, a paper planner. I like rules and deadlines. So what happens when you work in an industry, such a podcasting, where there don’t appear to be standards?

You can write a book creating those standards.

I often say that the fact that anyone can host a podcast is both a blessing and a curse. It has a low barrier entry and there are tons of lists, courses, books and websites that tell you how to launch your own show. The fact is that you can follow these steps but you can also shortcut them and therein lies the problem. Whether we are talking about hosting a podcast or pitching to be a guest on a show…there shouldn’t be shortcuts! There should be standards.

When I set out to write How To Get On Podcasts, I wanted to share what I knew and how I do what I do. As I continue to receive daily pitches for my show, My Simplified Life, I realize now, that I also want to set the industry standards when it comes to podcast pitching.

There is a right and wrong way to do things. I don’t believe in there being a gray area. It starts with personalizing every single pitch and grows from there.

The Invitation aka The Pitch

Unlike dinner parties where the host invites you to be the guest, you are inviting the host to learn more about you in a podcast pitch. This is why it’s so important to ensure your pitch (invitation) showcases who you are and what you’re going to bring to the table (see what I did there?!).

This week I shared what my book box included as an invitation to read my book. I already have branded boxes on hand for my client gifts, so I used those and inside there was a candle to make sure that you feel calm and at ease in your interviews, a bottle of champagne to celebrate your interviews, a door hangar that says "DO NOT DISTURB”, a wine charm that has a podcast microphone on it, a note to the reader which has a wave form of my voice which says “your voice will change the world”, and of course…How To Get On Podcasts! One comment on the post said “it is so you!”. Make that that YOU come across in your pitch because that’s what people want!

The Calendar Link

I’ve read various opinions on whether or not you should include a calendar link when you’re sending an email. Does it come off as pretentious? As any good law professor or attorney would tell you…it depends. When you are going back and forth with someone about meeting, by all means, send a link to your calendar. I see nothing wrong with this.

When you are pitching yourself to be a guest on someone else’s podcast, do NOT send them your calendar link to select a time to speak to you. This goes back to how the entire podcast guesting process is like a dinner party….

Let’s say you want to get together with your friend, Amy. It would be normal to send her a message and ask if she wants to get together. It would be disrespectful to say “Hey, Amy, I’m coming over to your place for dinner on Friday at 6pm. See you then.” That assumes that Amy is going to welcome you and cook for you and that she has nothing else going on…you just invited yourself to Amy’s house and made demands of her! This is what it looks and feels like when you offer up YOUR calendar link to a podcast host in your pitch.

Please don’t.

Listening Before Pitching

I truly believe it should be standard practice that you listen to an episode of a podcast before you pitch to them. You can even increase the speed at which you’re listening to it. Read the show description and scroll through past episodes to get a feel for what the show is about. Looking at old episodes will also ensure you aren’t pitching a topic that they’ve recently covered. It also gives you content to relate to them with.

These should be the basics when it comes to pitching to be a podcast guest.

How To Get On Podcasts - Update

This week I was the guest speaker for a PR strategies class at Loyola Marymount University! I couldn’t have enjoyed it more! If you know of PR professors, please let them know I’d be happy to speak to their class and How To Get On Podcasts is a great resources for students starting out as well!

The ebook and audiobook versions are coming! Mark your calendars for February 27th!!! I narrated the audiobook, so you can really get the full effect of how passionate I feel about what’s in the book!

If you haven’t yet, please, please, please leave a review on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Goodreads.

Catch Me If You Can

I’ll be signing books in San Jose at Barnes & Noble on Saturday, February 17th! Time is TBD right now but I’ll be posting about it!

I’ll also be in conversation with my college friend and KTLA Reporter & Weather Anchor, Kirk Hawkins at Zibby’s Bookshop on Monday, February 26th at 6pm! Grab your ticket here!

My Simplified Life

In the past three weeks, I’ve interviewed 3 incredible authors on the podcast!

Congratulations to Sagit Schwartz on the publication of Since She’s Been Gone! It’s an incredible psychological thriller that will not only have you on the edge of your seat and entertained but also educate you on eating disorders…a heavy topic that Sagit writes beautifully on so that we can all have a better understanding.

Congratulations to Donna Hemans on the release of The House of Plain Truth. A family story that brings up the untold past. The book takes you to Jamaica and you will feel like you are truly sitting on the porch with the characters!

Boo Trundle’s, The Daughter Ship is unlike any book I’ve ever read. Boo is a creative genius whose book not only takes you on the journey of the main character but brings along her past traumas as individual characters stuck in a submarine.

Next Week - Platforms

With so much discussion around self-promotion and platforms, I’m going to dive into how having a platform and self-promotion plays a role in podcast pitching (or not!). I included this in How To Get On Podcasts but also feel it’s important to openly discuss…stay tuned!