Making podcast guest appearances is a great way to grow your business, but where do you start? If you have the budget, there are companies, like Be My Guest, who can handle every aspect of your podcast guest tour for you. But you don’t NEED anyone besides yourself (and this article) to get it done. DIY-ing it is a lot easier than you may think. I’m here to answer those burning questions and concerns and guide you through creating your very own podcast tour.

“There are so many podcasts. Where do I even start?!”

Look for smaller niche shows. A smaller show where you know 95% of the audience has a need for your expertise and services is going to prove more valuable than a mid-sized show where only a handful of listeners will connect with what you’re saying. Try searching in Apple Podcasts. Find a show that’s relevant to your area of expertise and use the “Listeners also subscribe to” tool to find similar shows and create an outreach list.

“I can’t ask someone to put me on their podcast!”

 Have confidence in yourself. If you’re starting a business in a given field, you have a unique set of skills and knowledge that others can benefit from. As a podcast producer, it can be hard to book guests and come up with topics for podcast episodes. Change your perspective. you’re not asking them for something, you are helping them create content for their podcast. Come up with a specific topic that you can be the expert on. Do the hard work for them.

“What Value Do I Really Bring to the Recording Booth?“

Once upon a time, I had the opportunity to sit down with an ultra-successful industry leader, turned friend. I asked her point blank how she became so successful in her unique field. Her response: “I found a hole, and I declared myself the expert. Once you start acting like the expert, people treat you like one.”

Get creative in terms of what you can provide for the podcast in terms of value and explicitly state it in your email. Do you have a popular Instagram account where you can promote their show? Do you run a newsletter and can give them an ad placement? Explicitly tell them, “Here’s what’s in it for you…”

“OK, I booked an interview on a podcast. How does this help me?”

 Congrats! The hardest part is putting yourself out there and you’ve done it. Make sure to promote your product or service at both the beginning and end of your appearance. Write out your bio for the host’s introduction. Include your social handles. Now is not the time to be shy. Explicitly, ask the host if you can promote your business at the end of the interview. 9 out of 10 times they’ll say yes. Remember, you did something for them.

Once the interview is out, plug your appearance. This acts as social proof that you are the expert in your field. And voila, you’ve done it. You’ve built credibility and gotten your business out there through podcast guest appearances. Now, you can sit back and watch the leads roll in!