How To Find Guests For Your New Podcast

Starting your own podcast can be exciting, but it does take a lot of planning to get everything up and running smoothly. Having guests on your podcast is a great way to build authority and reach a larget target audience. 

But how do you go about finding guests for your podcast, especially when you’re just starting out. 

Use your existing network

Asking friends and colleagues to step in and help out can be a good way to get started. Calling in a few favours get you off the start line and creating good content. 

Put out a call on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a great resource and is usually full of people who are happy to help you spread your message. Asking your network if they would like to be involved or help you find someone suitable will often get you a number of enquiries. You never know, but one of your connections can introduce you to one of the leading SEO companies or expert in your industry. 

Seek out authors of forthcoming books

Authors of soon to be published books make great podcast guests. They are seeking any additional promotional opportunities they can get and are experts in their field. 

To find out who to contact, go to Amazon and search for books on the topic you cover in your podcast. Filter the selection of books by date and you’ll see which ones are being published at a later day. Do some preliminary research on the author to ensure that they are a good fit, then track them down via website and socials and approach them. 

Use a specialist service

Much like speaker bureau’s, there are a number of podcast talent sites appearing online. They hold the profiles and experience of industry experts looking to feature on podcasts. You can pitch to them directly through the platform so you can keep track of all of your requests. 

Look for influencers online

When you’re just starting out, it can be difficult to attract the more well-known influencers in your industry. After all, you don’t necessarily have the reach to make it worth their while and unless you’re prepared to pay, you’ll have to shelve those plans temporarily. Go online and look at the conversations that are happening around these influencers. You should be able to identify other knowledgeable people or micro-influencers who you can feature on your podcast. 

Don’t forget to ‘sell’ yourself

When approaching people to interview on your podcast, you need to outline clearly what’s in it for them. Give them the information they need on your target audience, social followers, email list, backlinks and any PR you will be doing. 

Conclusion

Interesting and knowledgable guests are a vital part of podcasting. While you’re just starting out with your podcast, it can seem like an uphill struggle to secure guests but as you continue to grow, this will get easier. Eventually, if you have patience the guests will come to you and ask to be featured. Isn’t that a nice problem to have?