The Business of Digital Podcast

Get some tips on how to get booked on podcasts and build your brand. From where to find opportunities to what to pitch we cover it all.

How to be a Guest on a Podcast

We get our fair share of people reaching out to be a guest and after a recent email thought it was time to dig into this topic. Getting booked as a guest on a podcast is just another form of PR and outreach. If your pitch is wrong, bad or doesn't convince the podcast owner that yes you would be the perfect guest, you likely are just wasting your (and their) time.

What Podcast to Pitch

While we think most people do this we also think many skip this step. Research the podcast, the past episodes, the topics they cover. See if it is a fit for you and not just that you want it to be.

Something relevant to you - don't waste people's time

A guest driven show (our show is not, on average we have one guest a month i.e. every 4 shows)

Research the podcast, find an angle of something that they havent covered before

Start your own - maybe dont even publish it but get some practice or use as a highlight reel.

Dig into Podcast directories, your podcast player of choice, iTunes or Google for "Topic + Podcast"

Here is a recent example (that has been heavily edited and paraphrased) to show what a non-relevant guest request can look like:

Subject: Message sent from your contact form.

Date: February X, 2019

I love the focus of your podcast, and I wanted to make an introduction to X, who would be an amazing guest for your show! ....much more about the possible guest and their career.....

.... a "pitch" about a rev share.....

...ending pitch about again how they would make a great guest but nothing that ties into our show, our audience or our topic at all...

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. I look forward to hearing from you, and keep up the great work!

The person was interesting I admit but I saw no reason to say yes now or in the near future. The pitch made me work and try and think of a way or reason to have them on instead of making me try and think why I SHOULDN'T.

What Not To Do When Pitching Podcasts

Only focus on you

Give no topic ideas

Clearly have no idea what the podcast is about i.e. don't pitch a podcast about horses when you just want to talk about the Denver Broncos offseason moves

Make it easy for the podcast to say no and hard to say yes

Pitch a podcast or show out of your league. This means if you are just a normal person but think Tim Ferris or Joe Rogan will have you, think again.

This episode was sponsored by MarTech® West (April 3-5) in San Jose, CA and MarTech® East (September 16-18) takes place in Boston, MA. To save 15% use promo code BIZPODCAST when you register.

Where to Find Podcast Guest Opportunities

With so many podcasts these days there likely are many that you could be a guest on but where to find them? We cover a number of ideas on the show and here are some of them:

Directories (see links below)

HARO

Email and Outreach

Facebook Groups

Conferences

Twitter and Forums - all over the place!

Your Own Network

What to Include in Your Podcast Guest Pitch

Your value - what and how can you help educate the audience

Topic ideas that would be interesting to the audience

Links to past podcasts, about you, about your company, your LinkedIn, your speaking profiles, just stuff about YOU!

Make it short - people have stuff to do

Mention that you have quality equipment (actually have it too)

A one sheet or a link to a one sheet/about page

Again, focus on how you being a guest on the podcast can help thier audience

How to Get on Podcasts Mentioned Tools & Resources

21 Great Resources for Finding Podcast Guests

Connecting podcasters with great guests.

Interview Guests Directory - Find Guests

Podcast Movement (conference)

Richie Norton (as mentioned by Mat)

Radio Guest List

Help a Reporter Out

Does the person(s) that do your SEO & PPC talk to each other? Why not? That needs to change & this episode digs into some ways to make that happen & why it should be a priority.

How to Work Together - Pay Per Click & Search Engine Optimization

Do you have one person, team, agency or consultant that handles your SEO and another that handles your PPC? Maybe you do one and outsource just the other? Or maybe you have two internal people do it but they rarely talk and share what is working/not working (- if this is true we suggest listening to How to Grow a Digital Marketing Team). That all needs to change and this episode digs into some ways to make that happen (and why it should be a priority).

This episode was sponsored by MarTech® West (April 3-5) in San Jose, CA and MarTech® East (September 16-18) takes place in Boston, MA. To save 15% use promo code BIZPODCAST when you register.

Teams to Integrate

Depending on the size of your company and team some of these "teams" might just be tasks so change things according to your own setup. Depending on the campaign and project scope you might not need to meet with all of the following people but they all can help you in some way no matter if you are the SEO or PPC person. While we mostly focus on SEO & PPC in the episode there are MANY teams and people that you should also work closely with.

Organic Social Media Person - Can use share converting pages but also learn what content or headlines do well.

SEO Person - can pass along what pages convert organic traffic and what keywords have lots of impressions (via Google Search Console)

Paid Search Person - can share conversion and impression data

Paid Social Person - can share what headlines and personas are converting

Designers and Creative Person - can help create new landing pages, hero shot graphics or ads

Copywriter(s) - can help update or craft new headlines and copy

IT, Developer, Technical Person(s) - can help speed up pages for better conversions or implement new pages

PR & Outreach Person(s) - can relay back where you are getting placements

Analytics & Data Person(s) - can dig into all the data from all the traffic to pass along to you

What Ways are SEO and PPC the Same?

Not only does your Keyword Research often help one team but the other team can use it as well. We also recommend Unique Ways to Do Keyword Research to help all teams involved.

PPC Headline = SEO Page Title>

Google Ad & Bing Ad Description = SEO Meta Description

PPC Keywords = SEO Keywords

Conversion Data and Pages

Converting Traffic Devices (Mobile, Tablet, Desktop)

Traffic Location

Questions to ask!

There are so many someone can ask but to get you started - What SEO Pages do people visit and on what devices? Do we target those visitors with ads and remarketing on the same type of device that they visited the site? How do we measure offline conversions? Should we go after keyword X with SEO? Why not use PPC to test that keyword(s)?

Tools, Resources & Tips for combining SEO & PPC

HOW I’VE USED PPC DATA TO SUPERCHARGE CONTENT, SEO, OUTREACH AND MORE

An integrated approach: From SEO to PPC and beyond

Creating a Relationship Between Paid & Organic

PPC vs. SEO With Guest Kenny Hyder

Do you know your webhost? Do you know what CMS your site is on? Listen to hear how and why you should know everything about your Marketing (& Tech) Stacks.

Why (and How) You Need to Know What is in Your Marketing Stack

In this episode, if you get nothing else from it - know what technology your company uses for as many things as you can. Don't rely on your IT consultant or your own IT Team, know your Marketing and Tech stack from top to bottom. Do you know the CRM you use? Do you know how it connects with your own internal backend? Do you know how a lead form submission flows through your internal systems and ends up in a list for email blasts?

If you don't know what systems you have, how they talk, or how they are set up, how can you ever optimize them?

This episode was sponsored by MarTech® West (April 3-5) in San Jose, CA and MarTech® East (September 16-18) takes place in Boston, MA. To save 15% use promo code BIZPODCAST when you register.

Why Knowing Your Marketing Stack Matters and a Checklist

This isn't a full list but should get you started. If you have a big enough team we recommend splitting the task and assigning everyone with different technologies to own. This will spread out the work and knowledge but also make it so they can get their job done while researching and documenting everything.

Domains

Hosting

Email Provider

CDN

Analytics

CRM

CMS

Server

Propietary Systems

Backend Systems

POS

Shipping and Operational

Site Forms

Database(s)

Caching

Tracking Pixels

Live Chat

What is My Site Built with Tools

There are other tools out there to help you look at a competitor's site or your own if you are unsure. From looking at what tracking pixels to the CMS to what server, there are tools and services that can help you figure it out and you don't even have to look at the code.

Wappalyzer

BuiltWith

Wix SuperBowl Stories and Resources

During the episode, Mat brought up the Wix ad from the 2019 SuperBowl. The two articles we referenced are here and will give you some additional insights.

Wix ‘SEO Wiz’ Stars in Big Super Bowl Ad, Fumbles with SEO Community

Wix Promotes SEO in Super Bowl LIII Ad, But Fails with Karlie Kloss Website

This episode we are joined by Ginny Marvin as we dig into how you can leverage Amazon SEO and Amazon Ads/Advertising for your business.

What is Amazon SEO and Amazon Advertising?

With the help of guest Ginny Marvin, the episode digs into a number of ways that your company can leverage the many ways to advertise on Amazon. Just a few years ago Amazon was just a growing retailer but has quickly become a huge marketplace and growing ad platform as well. As always we cover a ton during the episode and this write up likely misses a good amount, but highlights much of the main topics and resources for you.

This episode was sponsored by MarTech® West (April 3-5) in San Jose, CA and MarTech® East (September 16-18) takes place in Boston,MA. To save 15% use promo code BIZPODCAST when you register.

Paid Advertising Options on Amazon

It is estimated to now be the third-largest ad seller in the U.S. behind Google and Facebook with 4% market share (keep the over-hype in check). Long gone are the clunky UI and backend setup for Amazon but it still has a ways to go to catch up to the Google and Facebooks.

Sponsored Products (CPC based)

Sponsored Brands (CPC based)

Stores (Free) - For smaller brands and sellers to showcase their wares, Amazon launched Storefronts in September 2018

Amazon Sponsored Products

There are more coming, these are typically targeting single keyword searches.

Amazon Sponsored Brands

Look for the banners at the top of search results or on the right side for the desktop.

Amazon Stores

Getting started? Look at Amazon Stores as a platform option but do know that there is some work to get going and manage it. As with everything be strategic and don't go into Amazon (or any new market/platform) lightly.

Amazon SEO

Below is a list of some things that can impact your Amazon SEO and further down the page are some really deep dives into Amazon SEO. Look at your product description, your competitors and look for ways to better set yourself up for success.

Videos

Product Images

Reviews

Availability

Sales Performance

Shipping & Logistics

Constant Sales

Optimized Content & Titles

Answer Questions that people ask

Amazon Reviews & Your Brand

They matter for showing up, for getting shoppers to be buyers, and much more. The team digs into reviews and how they impact you on Amazon and beyond.

Amazon Consulting Scams - Be wary of promises and pitfalls

Just like anything, there are good and bad people out there looking to "help". Do your research. Plan. Know that while some may "get rich quick" or say they sell X, the end result of operating on the Amazon Platform for you and many others may be different.

Amazon prey to get-rich-quick scams

How to Lose Tens of Thousands of Dollars on Amazon

Amazon SEO & Advertising Resources

Freedive, Amazon’s free video-on-demand service, serves up new video advertising opportunities

Advertise on Amazon

4 Key Elements of a Successful Amazon SEO Strategy

How to Master Amazon SEO and Move Your Products up the Search Rankings in 2019

The Ultimate Guide to Amazon SEO & Cracking the A9 Algorithm

The basics of working with Amazon Marketing Services

5 SEO trends that will matter most in 2019

Amazon Pay Per Click Campaigns: How To Advertise Your Private Label Product on Amazon

Winning on Amazon: Here are 3 strategies that can help

Amazon’s latest ad test: Targeted Product Sampling

Analysts say Amazon’s advertising business will surpass AWS by 2021

What Amazon Advertising’s big 2018 advancements will mean for 2019

Holiday Tips for Amazon Sellers: An Interview with Robyn Johnson

In this episode, we explore and highlight some of the 48 items on Ian Lurie's Digital Marketing Checklist that he created and give our own takes on some of the items.

The Digital Marketing Checklist: 48 Things You Should Be Doing But Probably Aren’t

In this episode, we explore and highlight some of the 48 items on Ian Lurie's list that he created in late 2018. This list would have been a great list in 2017 and will likely be a great list even in 2021. So be sure to go see the full Digital Marketing Checklist that Ian put together.

Basic Marketing Items

#2 Is page speed a factor? Our answer - it doesn't really matter if it is or isn't. Every millisecond it takes for your page to load your conversion rate goes down.

#1 Compress Your Images! Look at the item above, big images slow pages. Mat suggests looking at Smush if you are on WordPress.

#11 Internal Resources for Content - listen to your CS and Sales teams. What do people call things? Do you only answer questions on the FAQ page? Why not on other pages?

#6 Meta Descriptions - Does your HP's Meta Description say "Home"? Please review your Meta Descriptions! It is 2019, describe the page!

Intermediate Marketing Items

#21 Install Google Tag Manager - there are other tag managers as well (Tealium among others for example). No matter what CMS you are on, install something to help manage tracking pixels.

#8 Spell Check Your Site - Use Grammarly, hire and editor or do something to check your content.

#33 Content Ideas - find some older pages that drive traffic or maybe some pages that have lost favor and update them. Every quarter take a look at any content older than 1,2,5+ years and review and update where needed.

#27 Setup and Use Bing Webmaster - it is free, why wouldn't you?

Advanced Marketing Items

#43 Review Email List - look at cleaning it up but also look at how or where you are growing your email list.

#48 Make Your Own List - this podcast and even Ian's list is not the end all be all list of things to do. Make your own weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, project, whatever list.

#49 Schedule 30 Minutes a Week for Diving into Data - set aside some time to dig into your Web Analytics or Google Search Console or Log Files or Bing Webmaster. Ask a question and spend 30 minutes trying to answer the question. You will learn amazing things.