Ralph Estep Jr. joins me to talk about one of the biggest challenges in podcasting: getting booked as a guest. We break down why so many podcast pitches fail and share real examples of outreach that completely misses the mark.

You can find all of Ralph's shows at www.askralph.com

As the host of Financially Confident Christian and Content Creators Accountant, Ralph has seen just about every type of pitch imaginable. He explains what podcast hosts are really looking for and why taking the time to personalize your message can make all the difference.

Ralph also shares the importance of researching a podcast before reaching out. A pitch that shows you understand the show's audience and explains why you're a good fit stands out far more than a generic email sent to hundreds of hosts.

Ralph shares how the same people keep pitching a show that doesn't do interviews. This just proves (along with "I hope this finds you well") that the agencies pitching these guests have done zero investigation.

Beyond pitching, Ralph shares advice for content creators about managing their finances. He explains why it's important to have a plan for your money and how working with an accountant can help creators keep more of what they earn as their businesses grow.

If you want to become a better podcast guest, write pitches that get responses, and build your podcasting business more strategically, this episode is packed with practical, actionable advice.

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• In this episode, Ralph Estep Jr. elucidates the intricacies of effectively pitching a podcast.
• We engage in a critical examination of various podcast pitches, identifying deficiencies and areas for enhancement.
• Listeners are provided with tangible examples and constructive feedback to refine their podcasting outreach strategies.
• Ralph emphasizes the importance of delivering genuine value to podcast audiences through thoughtful guest selections.
• We discuss the phenomenon of automated pitches and the lack of authentic engagement from some outreach attempts.
• The episode highlights the necessity for podcast hosts to critically evaluate the relevance of potential guests to their specific audience.

Mentioned in this episode:

We Need Your Stories - Help Guests Find You

We'd love to hear your bad (or good) pitch you've received (as we can learn from both). While you're sharing your pitch story, tell us a little bit about your show, and who your perfect guest would be (if you do interviews). Go to pitchapodcast.com/story

Pitch Your Story

Dan LeFebvre is the host of the "Based on a True Story" show. We've all seen movies that claim to be 'based on a true story', but have you ever wondered how accurate they are? That's what you'll find out as Dan compares Hollywood with history. Check It Out.

Getting a bad pitch from a company is sad. You see where they've done no research into your show. Oh well...

Then they send another bad pitch, proving even more than they did zero research.

Just when it can't get worse, you get a THIRD pitch with each one having nothing to do with Dan's show.

Dan's show is a combination between Hollywood and history, and he got a pitch that:

• Used his name
• Was NOT generated by AI
• Was 100% personalized. This was NOT a form letter
• Reminded Dan that this guest had been on the show before

Then the PR agent hooked Dan up with an early screening of the movie so he could do a better interview.

By enabling Dan to see the movie before the interview, you are guaranteed a better interview. This can benefit Dan. After all if he does a great interview, who is the PR person going to point to if someone asks about the guest? DAN!

As Dan creates a great episode, the audience wins, the guest (Jack El-Hai) wins, and the PR agency wins. Why? Because the PR agency did their homework, and now not only once but TWICE have delivered content for the audience.

Thanks to Dan for sharing his story you can check out his show at

basedonatrustory.com

Hear that interview by going to basedonatruestorypodcast.com/378

Mentioned in this episode:

We Need Your Stories - Help Guests Find You

We'd love to hear your bad (or good) pitch you've received (as we can learn from both). While you're sharing your pitch story, tell us a little bit about your show, and who your perfect guest would be (if you do interviews). Go to pitchapodcast.com/story

Pitch Your Story

Welcome to the inaugural episode of "Pitch a Podcast," where I, Dave Jackson, expose the world’s worst podcast pitches (because apparently, reading a show’s description is just too much to ask).

Ever wanted to land that coveted podcast guest spot? Well, you’d better know something about the show you’re harassing—maybe even listen to an episode (revolutionary, I know).

Tune in as I explain how to stand out from the sea of generic spam and actually deliver value to a host (hint: it’s not about copying and pasting your life story).

Every single podcaster wants to deliver value to their audience. So think of it like a secret Santa. When you find out you have Harold from accounting, you need to figure out what Harold likes. There is nothing different in podcasting

If you want to deliver value to the podcast audience it starts with knowing:

• Who is the audience
• What do they want?
• What do they need?
• What are their biggest pain points

The better you know the audience of the show, the larger the value you can deliver. It's not hard, you just have to know the audience.

When you pull upside to the host of the show and explain how you have an idea for an episode with a guest who can WOW the audience, and then share anything that proves you listened to the show - you are miles ahead of all the other guests and agencies doing "Spray and Pray"

Spray and Pray is where someone writes a form letter. They later pop in the name of the show and, if you're lucky, your name. There is no amount of detail about your show, but they will let you know they love it, and then they make it all about themselves or their guest and how they invented sliced bread, cured cancer, and you would be insane to not have them on your show.

The problem is they never connected themselves or their guests to your audience, and they've proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they've done zero work on learning about your show and what your audience wants. They send these letters out in bulk and fill everyone's inbox with spam.

Somewhere there's some fool that will put this person on the show because all they need to get on their show is a pulse. They're not interested in delivering value to the audience. They're probably hanging their hats on programmatic ads that pay $0.002 per download

While there are giant mountains of bad pitches we will be spotlighting, we would love to hear when someone sends in a good pitch as well (we're hear to learn - I'm from the School of Podcasting after all - education is my jam).

You can leave your story by going to pitchspodcast.com/story and in addition to your pitch story (good or bad) if you are looking for guests, who (or what type) of guest would be the "perfect guest" for your show?

Tired of waking up to pitches in your inbox from people who can't even spell podcast? This show hopes to become the beacon for lazy agencies pitching nonsense guests to shows who don't even do interviews.

Want to get booked on podcasts? This is where you can learn what to do, and more importantly what not to do. Quit wasting your time using pitches that don't work.

Hosted by 2018 Podcast Hall of Fame Inductee Dave Jackson