How to Convert Podcast Interviews into Revenue
A single podcast interview can be a win for you and your guest. You both enjoy the conversation and create good content for your niche. But the interaction doesn’t need to end there. With a little bit of intentionality and a willingness to go further, a lot of opportunities can open up.
Social Capital
The simplest and easiest way to add value is to use your social capital to make a helpful and meaningful introduction. And what is not helpful and meaningful? Sending a random connecting email to the person you just interviewed and an acquaintance from the same industry. This is bad for many reasons, not least of which, you didn’t get a double opt-in.
Double Opt-In Introductions
If you’ve just had a positive interaction with one of your podcast guests and want to keep the positivity going, you won’t do that by sending an unexpected, unintentional email.
Be intentional by asking both parties if it’s okay for you to make a connection. Email both of them separately and tell them why you’d like to connect them. The most common way people think of connecting others is professionally (e.g. you’re both in digital marketing, etc.), but that’s only one way. You could connect them over shared interests, similar outlooks on trends, or even a favorite vacation place. It’s not up to you how the relationship will develop — it’s only up to you to make sure that you’re connecting them meaningfully in the first place.
The reason you ask for permission is to show your respect for each person’s time and email inbox. Perhaps one of the parties is not interested in new introductions at the moment. Or maybe they already know this person and don’t need or want an introduction.
Using your social capital to introduce two people who might not otherwise have met is a great win/win/win. Plus it adds a depth and dimension to the relationship you are building with that podcast guest.
Referral Relationship
Sometimes you instantly think of a perfect fit for your podcast guest’s services and vice versa, and those sorts of connections often happen naturally. But if you want to take this one step further, check with your team and colleagues too. Send a short email informing them about your guest and what you like about how they deliver their products/services. Ask if they can think of anyone who would be a good match for them. You might not get any immediate responses, but you’ve planted a seed for people to refer to in case they have that need in the future. If you do get immediate responses, add those to any of the connections you yourself may have made in the first place.
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask
When a podcast guest has explicitly expressed a need for the types of services you deliver or you know they would benefit from them, that is the perfect time to ask for the order.
If they’ve mentioned that they lack something you can provide them with, or if they say something like “we should talk about that later” when your services come up in the interview, that is your cue. You may feel hesitant, and understandably, some people are very apprehensive about being direct. But if you view it less as “being direct” and more as “being helpful,” asking becomes much easier.
To help you see this more clearly, here’s a story about one of our clients who didn’t ask their interviewee if they could use their services. There was a two-month lag between when this client conducted the podcast interview and when the interview was scheduled to air. During that time, the guest sought and hired a direct competitor to our client. Was this because the guest was being malicious and purposely trying to ignore our client? Not at all! Our client simply had been hesitant about offering to help their guest with what they needed. As a result, in the normal business flow of finding and hiring a vendor, that guest forgot that he’d recently had an interview with someone in that industry. Here was a great missed opportunity, and all because someone felt “weird” about being honest about what they do for a living.
There’s no need to apologize for what you do. The worst thing a client can tell you is “no.” And that answer is not negative — you get information from it. The other possibilities only get better: “not right now,” “maybe,” “not a good fit for me but I know someone who is,” and, of course, “yes.”
Slow Play
If you need help easing into being more willing to ask for the order, go back to what we spoke about adding value. If your podcast interview interaction was really strong and positive, why not follow it up by seeing if you can create some content for their website? That could be an article, or it could mean appearing on a podcast that they host, if it’s a good fit for you.
You can also give a shout out across your social media channels when you finish interviewing someone as a way to prime the pump for later when the episode does drop. It’s a generous way of sharing your social networks with your guest, and it lets them know in a practical way that you’re trying to add value in every way that you can.
More Than Another Virtual Coffee
Many people, for various reasons, are burned out on directionless virtual coffees. Podcast interviews are the opposite of a basic virtual networking coffee. They are intentional, focused on a guest’s area of expertise, and create evergreen content that both parties can refer to in the future. Don’t forget that just doing an interview with someone in the first place is a gesture of kindness. It won’t just make their day, but it will become something that is powerful for their clients and yours. All great business relationships start somewhere. There’s no reason your next one couldn’t start from a podcast interview.
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This episode is brought to you by Content Allies.
Content Allies helps B2B companies launch revenue-generating podcasts. From startups to Fortune 500s, we have helped some of the world's leading companies build and run profitable podcasts. Contact us for your free podcast consultation at ContentAllies.com