Last Fall during the Q&A part of the talk I gave at the great Brian Kurtz’s Master Class, the subject of list-building came up.
And, so, Brian and I talked a bit about it.
And, one thing we both agree was great (if not underrated) was…
Podcast interviews.
And, it was interesting how Brian and I shared the exact same philosophy of:
“Never turn down an interview”
I first learned this from the great Paul Hartunian.
And it means it doesn’t matter if it’s a small, start-up, a medium sized show, a giant show, a low tech show, a high tech show, a show with a great host or with an incompetent host… none of that matters.
Why?
Because you simply don’t know what you’re going to get.
I’ve gotten lots and lots of not just leads but buyers from small shows with a trickle of downloads, and barely anything from giant shows with over 100k downloads. I’ve been on big name podcaster shows and gotten nary a sale, while hopped on a newbie podcaster’s show and have traced dozens of cash-in-the-bank sales from it.
You simply never know until you do it.
Plus, you don’t know how big a show is going to get later.
I’ve been on start-up shows hosted by newbies bumbling and nervously fighting their way through the show (with me gently helping them along the way… I got their backs…) that ended up being big a few years later, with my interviews being listened to and downloaded by people who go out of their way to say, “I heard you on that ___ show…” after they bought. On the other hand, I’ve been on podcast guru shows, with tens of thousands of listeners and downloads with seasoned interviewers with smooth voices, only to get a small handful of leads (but still usually some sales, so it’s all good).
More:
The small shows are good for honing your podcast game, too.
When I get on a dinky show, I sometimes practice certain stories, or calls to action, or showing different aspects of myself I wouldn’t normally.
To paraphrase a wise person:
There are no small podcast shows, only small interviewees.
And that’s where my March “Email Players” issue comes in to save the day.
It shows you everything I use myself to (1) get booked solid on as many podcast shows as I want (big, small, or in between) and (2) keep the audience and host interested and listening to you the whole way and (3) monetize those interviews via getting as many listeners as possible on your list, and some other little tricks I know for monetizing and getting more mileage out of interviews.
Best part?
It works just as well for newer marketers as seasoned pros.
In fact, I daresay it works even better for newer ones, because you’ll know how to use these podcasts to not be “new” or be without a list to sell to for very long.
The deadline to get the March issue is coming up fast.
Go here to subscribe in time, while you still can:
Ben Settle
P.S. The only exceptions I make to the “never turn down an interview” rule is if a podcaster doesn’t have their shyt together with no calendar ready, making a lot of small talk, and back and forth, insisting I mail my list about the interview on their site (that’s not how the game is played), etc.
This is important.
Why?
Because if you use my method in the March issue, you could very well end up inundated with so many podcast interview requests, you’ll be forced to start turning some down if they even come close to wasting your time. Time is valuable. And, I don’t recommend wasting on people who don’t respect it.
