What to Ask Before You Hire a Podcast Pitching Service

Podcast pitching services look like a shortcut. Hire someone, get booked on shows, show up and record. But almost every person who asks me about these services is coming off a bad experience, and when I ask what the agency's process was, they can't answer the question. They never asked.

Skipping that question is expensive. Not just in dollars, but in the relationships it can quietly damage when a cold template goes out to someone you know, or when you end up on 15 shows that have nothing to do with your actual buyers.

In this episode of The More Profitable Podcast, I'm breaking down the four things to ask before you hire a podcast pitching service, including how they price their work, how they qualify shows, what their process actually looks like, and what you're still going to be responsible for no matter who you hire.

0:32 - Why podcast pitching services often don't deliver on the promise

1:07 - Why production clients are the ones asking me about pitching services

6:09 - Process is the first thing to ask about and what good process looks like

8:21 - What happens when a cold template goes to someone you already know

9:29 - What a good pitching partner actually involves you in

11:25 - Per pitch pricing and why it incentivizes volume over quality

12:19 - Per booked appearance and why more yeses isn't always better

13:21 - Flat monthly retainer and what it needs to include to be worth it

15:05 - Matching pricing structure to your actual visibility goals

18:25 - How they qualify shows and what the answers reveal

20:26 - Red flags in show qualification

21:55 - What you're still responsible for no matter who you hire

25:07 - The difference between strategic visibility and vanity

27:36 - Why I DIY my own pitching in this season of business

Mentioned In What to Ask Before You Hire a Podcast Pitching Service

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Transcript

One of my favorite ways just right off the top here to grow a podcast audience is to be a guest on other people's podcasts. I think it can be a really fantastic way to grow your show and frankly it can be a really good way to connect with other podcasters as a podcaster. So today I want to talk about podcast pitching services because often they seem like a really easy leveraged way to be getting more podcast guest opportunities but often they end up not being the dream we hoped they would be.So today we're going to talk about that. Let's get into it. Welcome to The More Profitable Podcast with Stacey Harris.I'm Stacey and this is the spot to learn more about the strategies, tactics, and tools you need to build your more profitable podcast. My team and I work every day with podcasters like you to shift shows from frustrating time sucks to productive members of your sales team because your show should be built to generate and convert leads. So let's get into it.It was really kind of surprising to me initially when I started getting these questions about podcast pitching services most frequently from our production clients honestly and it often stemmed from the fact that they had already in the past partnered with somebody either who was like a full service like podcast pitching agency and had lots of people or maybe a VA or a marketing assistant or sometimes PR sort of backed people will offer pitching as part of their services right as part of either an ongoing service that they're doing or as a standalone service and the the people who would ask me about this the people who ask me about this most often are generally either coming off of having had a not great experience themselves or have heard the horror stories and or have experienced a lot of the really bad pitches that can sometimes come from these services and from the folks that offer them. Now I want to say up front there are legit great folks who who do this. The biggest benefit in my opinion is working with people who have relationships already with hosts because that tends to work best but we're going to talk about all of those things.We're going to talk about process. We're going to talk about pricing. We're going to talk about how they qualify shows.Also we're going to talk about what we're responsible for because sometimes when our consultant or service provider relationship we skip the step that is us taking responsibility for where we did or did not show up and so we're going to wrap up talking about sort of our side of the deal. Before we get started I wanted to let you know we do have a one spot available right now to join us for Podcast Launch Accelerator. This is a 60-day container where we build the strategy and the plan for you to launch your podcast.If you would like to also have your first season produced, which I'm going to be honest with you this is what most people take advantage of and in my opinion it is the best way to actually get your show done, the container does expand to three months. We need a little more time once we add in production but it allows us to give you all the strategy and then the first season fully produced uploaded to your podcast host. By the way podcast host and all that stuff set up and really take care of that so all you have to do is sit down with me and do the strategy do the recording and then actually share the show with your audience because it will be out in the world whether you share it or not.But if you would like to do that in Q2 or in Q3 we'll have some spots as well you're going to want to get on that because we only have a one spot left for Q2. So head on over to uncommonlymore.com accelerator and learn more about the podcast launch accelerator. I love this container it has been a really fun way to launch shows over the last year since we've done it.I will tell you right now almost every show we have launched has gone into ongoing production meaning they ended up with a show they stuck with because it worked really well for them but we have had some folks who used that first season of the show for a little while before they moved into that production because we're building you an asset whether you have an ongoing show or not. So if you're somebody who's been thinking about a podcast but what seems scary to you is the lack of an end date on this project because I know that can feel really overwhelming especially when your capacity is feeling crunched this container is really good because we're going to build you an asset that you can use whether you keep going or not and I will say some versions of what ongoing production has looked like for our clients has been they essentially do the launch accelerator modified a little for their seasons and so we we sort of just redo the not redo the project but like they sort of move into that container again because we're just doing season two of their show and then season three of their show because again that that open loop of an evergreen podcast is sometimes overwhelming especially when your capacity feels crunched or you're in a season of life where your availability and scheduling is less consistent or more disrupted either way it can be a good option. I will stop ranting about the accelerator now I just really love this program and we just we just rocked with somebody and so I'm feeling extra ooey gooey about it so if you want to do that in q2 with me though let's let's get on the get on the horn as we said in ye olden days and talk about it now I want to get back into our podcast pitching conversation because this first place for me is such an important conversation to have I want to talk about it first because I know not everybody listens to the whole episode and if you listen to nothing else I do want I do want you to listen to this because every single person I've talked to who has asked me about a podcast pitching service because they've had a negative experience when I've asked them about what the podcast services process was they couldn't answer the question even having worked with them much less had they asked that before they started working with them and this is something that is so important because a it will highlight for you that some of these folks don't have a process and I'll tell you having you know worked with clients who worked with people who were great having you know I have done trainings inside of programs for some of the people who offer these services and so I have some of these people in my world I'm going to tell you the ones who are legit the ones who are getting good consistent quality placements for their clients they have a process they know exactly where things are happening why they're happening they have a structure they know what's going on there is a research phase there is an alignment phase there is customized outreach they know what's going on and can tell you what that process is and maybe more importantly can show you what it looks like and by that I mean they show their clients the base template that gets customized and where those customizations come in and oftentimes those clients and we're going to get more into this later but those clients are involved not just in the hiring and then going in on the interview but in that process in that research phase in that alignment check in that customized outreach one of my favorite stories ever was I talked to somebody and they were asking me about podcast pitching services and they had worked with somebody that hadn't worked out and the thing that ended it the straw that broke the camel's back was they pitched a podcast of somebody the client knew and they weren't like best friends but they knew each other they went to a lot of the same events they hung out in a lot of the same rooms they had a lot of people in common and they got the same cold template that every other podcast that this agency was pitching for this client got and that person sent an email to the client and said this can't possibly be you we know each other and it was like wow that's embarrassing what a way to undo some of the relationship and trust work I had done with this person and that's what happens when you're removed completely from this process when you just hire somebody and then show up on these interviews that have been booked a really solid agency is going to have touch points where you come in where you know this stuff another client I worked with worked with a really great pitch group I think it was actually just a single service provider if I remember correctly and they had a background in PR and they had really great relationships but more importantly they understood the importance of this process and one of the things they did is they sent a core email to the client and then the client did some of this customization oftentimes because what happened earlier in the process is when they were in research and alignment and getting ready to go to outreach they would start sending over episodes of shows to the client and say hey give this a listen or hey do you know anybody who's been on this show like look at the the previous guests or like looking for that that way in and so those should already sort of been raised for them and they could involve that in that customization of the actual outreach email a good partner should not only understand your message and your brand positioning I mean that that feels like a base like sort of minimum to me but they should also understand the importance of of pulling the lever that is you in this process I think that oftentimes we as consumers as the client want to be able to do this in as hands off of a way as easy of a way as possible because in our brain that's what outsourcing really looks like is I'm going to give you ownership of this but we have to take some ownership here and again we're going to talk about this when I talk about our involvement so get ready for me to get this soapbox back out but I want you to be looking for folks who are not only explaining their process to you but explaining your role in their process because in my opinion that is the most complete process option there is is where you come into play the second thing I want and and this one is going to have some nuance because when I say it you're going to go well I'm just looking for and I want you to stay with me all right but I want you to look at how they're pricing this does not mean we're shopping by price I don't like the number is irrelevant what I want you to be looking at is the business model the structure of the pricing because there's kind of three ways that they get priced out one is per pitch this really incentivizes or like sets the goal at quantity over quality we're looking for volume I'm getting paid by outreach I send out it doesn't matter what the quality of fit is it doesn't matter what the quality of outreach is as long as I sent out outreach I'm getting paid I think you can probably sense the red flags here the other option is per booked appearance I like this because it tends to be a factor around at least you're actually getting on shows however they often end up targeting a lower back a batch of lower quality shows because they're going for the easiest yes instead of highest quality yes so yeah now you may be hitting some crazy numbers you may be getting on five ten pod 15 podcasts a month it's a little spray and pray for my taste because now it's just about you know in the same way the per pitch is is quantity over quality this is like well at least we're getting a quality outreach we're getting yeses we're getting something but what we're getting is not great the third way I see this is a flat monthly retainer this would be in my opinion probably my preference if I were doing it I think these three there's not a right one or a wrong one you just need to be aware of what your goal is with each of them but this works only if it includes some really important things and that is the strategy there needs to actually be a plan what show are we going after why are we going after those shows what are the end goals of of having gone after and booked on these shows they also need to be doing a really good job of tracking and managing ongoing relationships so like where are their shows that have said no for now are we going to be following up with those shows are we long term you know again I come back to this idea of like spray and pray like are we just throwing as many sort of lines in the water and hoping something bites or are we doing a thing where we're reaching out to the shows we know we want to be on and I'm working with you on a retainer basis because you're going back to these shows that are saying I'd love to have Stacey on but we're not taking guests right now or we're booked out for the year we often get this as feedback especially when we start to hit q3 q4 more and more your response is going to be I'd love to have you on the show but I've actually already finished recording certainly booking guests but possibly even recording for this year uh I won't be revisiting guests until xyz and so if you're going to be working with somebody on an ongoing basis they need to be managing that again this is not about one option being better than the others this is not about one option being an absolute no for me it's about what is your goal what are the results you're paying for is it credibility is it building relationships with certain kinds of shows and certain kinds of hosts is it quality lead generation is it general visibility and links back to your website and just like a feeling of you're everywhere because then per booked appearance might be the way also what are you paying for in terms of deliverable you know part of that flat monthly rate of having somebody who actually owns this as if it were a department in my like in my business like somebody who's like I'm managing those relationships I'm keeping an eye on new shows that pop up there I'm managing relationships I have with podcasts that's the other thing I like about monthly is a lot of times it's these are folks who've been in this a while and they have established high quality relationships with the people who host the shows you want to be on if they're like that there's value in that there is retainer value in that there's value in me having you on my team even if I'm only booking one two three appearances a month that's cool because I'm going for ongoing consistent overtime like I want to be doing two shows a month most of the months of the year because now by the end of the year I've got like what 24 28 maybe podcast interviews hell yeah I'd rather have 28 podcast interviews over a year where it's peppered out for my sales goals for my visibility goals but if I were publishing a book or I had a huge program launch coming out and I needed to get visibility now and I needed a lot of it and I needed to book 15 20 30 interviews to go out of the next 90 days and per booked probably works better and so be paying attention to how they're priced because it sort of it it gives you insight into what their focus is if you pair this with their process you're gonna have a really deep understanding of if they align with your goals you know I talk about this a lot uh when I meet with people from a podcast perspective I don't work with all podcasts there are lots of kind of podcasts where I'm like I'm not the girl for you if you want to be internet famous if you're looking to be an influencer if you're looking to sell merch to an audience and build sponsorships and get invited on brand trips I don't think that's bad there are versions of that show I chose I watch that I love but I don't produce them it's just not the kind of work I do and I'm not priced and my process doesn't present for those kinds of clients the same is true here the pricing structure how they're priced and the process they're using will give you a lot of insights and understanding into if they're going to be able to deliver the goal you're trying to reach the third thing is I want insights into how they qualify a show so this is like process plus what is important to them who's vetting the shows what understanding about me and my business and what I'm looking for do they have how are they measuring relevance is it all about audience sizes I see a lot of podcasts going yeah we're going to be pitching shows that are one percent and listener notes are better that doesn't tell me a lot I personally really love pitching small shows you want to know why they promote their shows they care about their guests they care about their audience they vet their guests they come prepared but also my goal is not to get 15,000 new leads from a podcast by the way that should be no one's goal I was being dramatic for funsies okay that shouldn't be happening anybody's goal but I'm in a business model and I talk about this a lot we're like I need like 10 to 15 people if we're selling summer camp which we are this summer by the way I'm very excited uh to buy from me each year other than that it's recurring revenue and returning clients like that's a big part of my revenue so I don't need to be on shows that have massive audiences because I'm cool if I get two three new leads from a show great that's fantastic so small shows can be good for me but that's not the case for everybody and in some cases when you're pitching these services they're saying we're never going to talk to a show that has less than xyz download numbers are they looking at topic alignment are they looking at business fit are they looking at the frequency at which they produce episodes and release them are they looking at the consistency in which they promote their episodes that's a big one for me if you're not going to promote the show you're bringing on guests and hammering away at how I need to and then you're not you're looking for me to bring you people that's not win-win that's just win we need both wins all right red flags to watch out for um they can't explain it they don't know or they have hard numbers or hard lines that are in contrast to yours for example for me I'm I'm not looking to be on a show that you know has to have you know 50,000 downloads with you know the first day downloads for me to want to be on the show first of all not very many shows are getting that just so you know heads up uh again check out the bruzzsprout.com slash global stats uh but on the flip side I do care about a show having been around and so I don't want to be on a show that has been around for three episodes I need more than that I need to know they're sticking with this and so look for their hard lines to be the same as your hard lines and not in opposition of uh one thing is I would much rather them care about giving me five shows that are a great fit for me than 50 shows that are like definitely podcasts and when we ask questions like how are you qualifying shows which one of those they care most about is going to become very clear and it needs to match with what you care about all right as we start to wrap up I do I do want us to be cautious about not forgetting that we're a relevant part of this process too so one of the biggest questions I want you to be asking is what do I need to do what do you need for me and if their answer is nothing red flag what I want them to be looking for is I wanted to be clear that they have a good understanding of why I want to be on these podcasts what my goal for these placements is is it sales is it visibility is it positioning is it lead generation if it is lead generation how many leads do I really need to reach my goals they need to have an actual understanding of what your main sort of messaging is what is it you talk about and not just in a like thought leadership way like I want to be a thought leader in the podcasting space I'm not talking about that I'm talking about podcasts can be the central engine of your marketing machine if you build it with the intention of it filling that role if you support it in executing those job responsibilities it will serve that job in your business but you have to be building it in a way that allows you to do that and that takes building sales assets okay I need them to understand that that's what I'm talking about not just podcasting is great or whatever I also want to be on the same page with how I'll measure success and how they measure success so if they're not clear on how you're going to measure success in this process that's going to be a struggle I'm also looking for them to tell me where I'm relevant in their process we talked a lot about this when we were talking about process but I want to know where am I going to need to show up and where am I going to see things because I do want to see things in the process I do want to see the curated list of shows you're thinking about pitching so that I can go oh I know so and so and a friend of mine was on this show and I actually you know what I've actually listened to this show and it's not a good fit for me we've got a misalignment in in core values or in brand messaging or in how we approach business or whatever I want to be coming in and so I want them to say you're going to get that list and I'm going to need you to go through it and here's how the timeline in which we'll need it back from you I want them giving me deadlines right we're going to send out the pitch emails to you on this Friday for approval before they go out on Monday or Thursday to Monday or whatever that is and you'll need to approve those emails so that I can go into my calendar and say cool I'm going to be responsible for this stuff and so I need to make this time it's not just about me showing up on shows it is about me optimizing this so that I'm getting on the shows where I'm going to get the best results I'm going to get the most use for my squeeze that squeezes your time remember visibility without strategy and without your involvement where it's super hands off and you just show up and do your thing that's vanity that's not strategy and I need you to understand the difference because understanding the difference will make it easier to swallow how involved you're still going to need to be even though you're investing at what feels like a stretchy level because it might be a stretchy level it almost always is right you're asking them to do a lot it doesn't mean you get to do nothing you still got to do stuff too if they never ask about your offers your funnel your audience and there's not consistent mechanisms to make sure what they're pitching the research they're doing is in alignment with those they are a booking service not a pitching or visibility strategy service that doesn't make either of those things wrong but we've got to be clear on who they are because when we hire a booking service yes you will probably get to be more hands off but when we are hiring a visibility partner when we're hiring somebody who's going to help us show up strategically in the places that get us closer to our goals they're probably going to need you to show up more and you got to be ready for that because this is going to be uncomfortable it's visibility baby these things always are all right so recapping we want to talk to them about their process their pricing how they qualify shows and what we're going to be responsible for what we need to own and that ownership starts long before reaching out to some of these agencies does okay it means having an understanding of all of these things that you're going to talk to them about and why they're relevant and the kind of answers you want to be getting before you go out and do that pitching because that's the difference between strategic visibility and ego vanity right we've got to be thinking this stuff through because it is a huge energetic output it is a big piece of our capacity and it's not a small investment when we're looking at a really high quality partners all right i will say for me i have chosen not to partner i have a lot of relationships with podcasters i have a lot of relationships with uh folks who frequently guest on podcasts so i have a lot of referral ways in and i and in this season of my business and the amount of shows i want to be on my goals my best option is leveraging my existing network this means more hands-on sort of admin work for me because i do it myself but it also means a personal touch and the bar is low if i had different goals and i may at some point i would likely choose a different option there is no one right answer diy can be great pitch services can be fantastic it's just about what's right for you in the season of business you're in right now with that a quick reminder that we do have that spot for the accelerator open the podcast launch accelerator open for q2 and we'll be starting to look at q3 soon so head on over to uncommonlymore.com accelerator if you're interested in getting your show launched we also by the way sneaking in here we have a production spot open too so if you want to if you have an existing show and you want to talk to us about production maybe because you need more of your podcast capacity time to be sent in you doing some of this pitching stuff i know we have had clients who have shifted from diy in their podcast to us producing their podcast because of exactly that reason they wanted to take on a different part of their marketing uh hands-on and so they needed to free up their hands somewhere uh we do have a production spot you can go to uncommonlymore.com slash production to learn more about that or submit a form for us to have a chitty chat all right i'll see you right back here next week bye thanks so much for listening to the show remember that content consumption does not make changes so commit to doing something from today's episode maybe it's taking action on what we talked about maybe it's reaching out to me and learning more about podcast strategy intensives or what podcast production looks like with our team all of that is over at uncommonlymore.com and if you haven't yet signed up for the podcast newsroom i want to remind you that is a great next step if you're not really sure what comes next hang out over there get those exclusive private episodes that's over at podcast newsroom.com and the last favor i will ask because social proof is endlessly important for sure is to leave a rating or review for this show if you go to rate this podcast.com slash more that's the easiest way to do it but i would love to hear what you thought of the show what you think of the show and if the show has been helpful for you i can't wait to chat with you so this is just the start of the conversation reach out so we can keep it going talk soon