Honest Marketing

Michelle Glogovac: How to Land Coveted Podcast Guest Appearances

• Honest Podcasts • Episode 35

Share episode

If you're looking to expand your reach, boost your credibility, and build your personal brand, appearing as a guest on a popular podcast can be a game-changer.

Today, we've got the fantastic Michelle Glogovac in the house – she's THE Podcast Matchmaker™, a top-notch publicist, and the host of the My Simplified Life Podcast. She's all about helping entrepreneurs, authors, and experts master storytelling, boost businesses, and shine as thought leaders.

Our conversation delved deep into the intricacies of securing coveted guest spots on podcasts. We explored the art of pinpointing the right stories and topics that truly strike a chord, and delved into the art of crafting standout pitches. We also chatted about keeping it real and forming those win-win relationships.

So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead, hit that play button, and let's jump right into the world of podcast guest appearances!

Specifically, this episode highlights the following themes:

  • Crafting captivating podcast pitches
  • Establishing authentic connections with hosts
  • Leveraging personal stories for podcast success

Links from this episode:

Want to give your podcast the boost it needs to stay ahead of the competition? Check out honestpodcasts.com and take the first step toward achieving your podcasting goals!

And if you have a guest in mind who you think would be a great fit for this show, drop me a line at hello@honestpodcasts.com. 

Michelle Glogovac [00:00:00]:

Start with your personal story. If you have a business, if you have a book, it really doesn't matter what you have. Why? Why do you do what you do? I shared that I wanted to make the world a better place for my kids, and I believe that sharing the stories of others so that we can learn empathy, we can be inspired, motivated, and educated is going to make the world a better place. And that's why I do what I do.

Travis Albritton [00:00:24]:

You. Welcome back to the Honest Marketing podcast, where you learn proven strategies to grow your business without selling your soul. I'm your host Travis Albritton, and today I got to have my good friend Michelle Glogovac on the podcast to talk all about pitching yourself as a guest on other podcasts. Now, I've talked about this briefly on the show, shared a coaching call that I did with one of my other clients and some of my strategies. But Michelle really is the top of the industry when it comes to strategies and implementation and the specific tactics they're going to make the difference between getting a yes and a no. So if you've ever thought about trying to position yourself as a guest on other podcasts to either gain exposure for yourself for your business or content marketing, then this podcast is going to be super practical. Make sure you stick around to the very end where I give you my number one takeaway from my conversation with Michelle. But here it is. Let's dive in. So, Michelle, how did you become the podcast matchmaker? Because we're not talking about Bachelor or Bachelorete. We're not talking, know, like a reality TV show, love is blind, but it's a different kind of matchmaking. So tell me about the backstory of how you landed there and ultimately kind of the origin story for your agency.

Michelle Glogovac [00:01:39]:

I will tell you that I have made two matches that created marriages.

Travis Albritton [00:01:44]:

That's fantastic. It could put that in your case studies 100% you may get on two.

Michelle Glogovac [00:01:50]:

Marriages, thousands of interviews. That's what it's all about. That's how I became the matchmaker. So the long story that I tried to make shorter is that I always wanted to be a lawyer since I was in kindergarten. I brought a briefcase to kindergarten, and my major was law. In college, I have my bachelor's, my master's in law. But I needed a job in college, and I could walk to the airport. So I walked to the airport and got a job in the general aviation terminal where all of the corporate jets go, and they put me on salary with benefits. After I graduated, I was like, fine, I'm there. 18 years later, I realized that maybe I wasn't meant for corporate aviation and there was something else for me. And I was laid off from there were two big corporations that were selling jet fuel at that time, and I was laid off from the second one that I'm like going anywhere else. To me, it's going to be going backwards. I have two little kids at home. I'm just keeping rich people in the air by saving them more money on their jet fuel. It's not changing the world. And so I decided to do something for myself, something that I could work from home, but also create an income and change the world for my kids. That seemed big at the time and it still is a big ask of what your job can do for you. But I dabbled a little bit in social media because I had a wine blog at the time and I was like, I don't like my face down on my phone all the time. I tried some event planning because I had done networking events in aviation and I was like, well, that's nights and weekends. So it's all kind of not serving the purpose of freedom. And a woman from my birthing class of my first child said, there's a life and business coach who is launching a podcast and I think you would like it. I didn't know how to listen. It was 2018, I had an iPhone. I didn't know that the purple button allowed me to listen to podcasts. And so that was my first one. And this life coach was like, we all have a purpose and a passion. And I was like, yes, I need to figure mine out. I was all jazzed about it. I had no idea how I was going to go about it. And she ultimately reached out to me because I was putting this on my social media of this is what I want to do, but I don't know what it is or how to do it. And she said, do you want to pitch me to be on podcasts? I was like, this is a thing. And so I started working with her. I ended up learning everything there was about podcasts. I started producing her show, producing other shows, and I fell in love with the pitching part. And although it sounds completely different from 18 years of selling jet fuel, it's actually totally the same because it's all about relationships and creating that perfect match between your client and the podcast host and really just being there for both of them to show them that you're going to benefit from each other. And that's why I am the podcast matchmaker.

Travis Albritton [00:04:55]:

I love that story and it's so funny because I can probably count on one hand the number of people that I know that are in a career that matches what they went to college for, right? It seems like everyone takes two or three different pivots, hard pivots, over time. So, like, when we first connected, we connected over that aviation connection because I have an aerospace engineering background. So naturally I got into podcasting and marketing. That's the natural next step for an engineer. But no, I love that story. And we'll come back to portions of that as we go. But the thing that I want to start with is this idea of having someone pitch you or find good matches for you to be on other people's podcasts. I don't want to say that's a niche industry, because podcasting is pretty large, relatively speaking, but ten years ago, that didn't exist, right? So what has shifted? What has changed? Where now experts, leaders, authors, entrepreneurs are seeing the value in going on other people's podcasts and being a guest on other podcasts? What is the strategy behind it? What's the thought behind it? Why it's a good use of their time and their resources?

Michelle Glogovac [00:06:10]:

I think that we've seen a lot of changes in media overall. Newspapers, they're not really a thing. We still get the Sunday paper, but we're rare. There's like three people on our entire court that get an actual newspaper. And so I think that in a public relations perspective, we've seen that completely change to digital online stuff. And podcasts, yes, they've been around for 20 years, but it's only been in the past five or six that people are realizing, oh, this could be beneficial. This is something I want to hear. I'm being educated. There's literally a topic for anything that you can think of, whether you want to be entertained, you want to educate yourself, you want to meet someone new, you want to hear an author. There is everything you could think of and imagine on a podcast. And I believe that in educating people on the fact that it's really an intimate conversation between two people, it opens up that door to allow more people to be interviewed and be comfortable being interviewed. It also allows for greater marketing content. In the end, if you do it right, it's not just a one and done. It's not going on the radio for a 32nd interview or going on the Good Morning America show or Today Show, whatever it is, and having that 30 seconds, 60 seconds, two minutes of fame, and poof, it's gone. Except for that still image. A podcast interview is something you can repurpose over and over again. It lives forever on the Internet. It's not just a listening thing. It can now be searchable on Google with show notes and blog posts, and I use Pinterest too. A lot of things that people don't really realize yet, these are ways to repurpose the interview. And I think that entrepreneurs, authors, so many other people are finding out that, oh, there are these great benefits to a single podcast interview. And plus, we had that thing called the Pandemic where everyone and their mother was sitting at home and the big podcasters who had studios and stuff now were recording in their closets like the rest of us. And so others realized that, oh, I can not only launch this, it's something that's accessible to everyone to have their own show. But what do I do if I can't go on a book tour and meet everybody? What if I am running for office and I can't go make these speeches to thousands of people because we're all locked down at home? Well, I can get on a podcast and do it and I can reach thousands and millions of people because there are literally millions of podcasts and even more millions of listeners. So I think people are finally understanding that these are the benefits as to what a podcast can do for anybody.

Travis Albritton [00:08:54]:

Yeah. And I'll speak personally to the longevity of podcast content. One of my more recent clients discovered me because he was searching the name of a guest that I had on a different podcast. Found it on Spotify, an interview I did five years ago. Listened to the interview. Like, five years is forever on the internet. Like, you can't find an Instagram post that's five years old.

Michelle Glogovac [00:09:18]:

No, you got to scroll a lot.

Travis Albritton [00:09:20]:

You got to scroll a know, forget about stories, man. And so he found that interview, saw that I was doing, searched my name, saw that I was doing a marketing podcast, consumed all the marketing podcasts and was like, this is the guy I want to work with. But it all started from an interview from five years, so so I definitely agree. I think one of the best strengths of podcasting is it's so evergreen that in a world where everything is so ephemeral, like every single news article or Facebook post or social media post, they just come and go so quickly. You're always on this treadmill, this hamster wheel, always churning out more content because you have to replace what just disappeared. Whereas with podcasting, it's compounding interest that the more you put into it, the more it works for you.

Michelle Glogovac [00:10:10]:

Yes, and you're totally right about the ones that years ago have been recorded. And I have clients who come and I ask them up front, where have you been featured already? And they'll give me a list and then I take that list and I Google them anyway. And then nine times out of ten, I'm like, so you were on this show and this show and this show. Oh, I forgot about that. That was years ago. How'd you find that? It's Google. I just googled your name. It is there. It lives on forever.

Travis Albritton [00:10:35]:

Yeah, 100%. So I'm really glad that you're here because you're literally the woman that is writing the book on how to get booked on podcasts. Coming 2024 McGraw Hill. Right.

Michelle Glogovac [00:10:47]:

Yeah.

Travis Albritton [00:10:47]:

Which is very exciting. So we'll definitely have to have you back once that's out. But I want to walk through three big pieces of this, three big pieces of getting booked on podcasts because there's a lot of business owners, entrepreneurs, marketers that listen to this show that I know have thought about being a guest, but aren't sure about some of these early decisions. And so I'm hoping we can create some clarity, just some simple practices or things that we can do. So if you're listening, you can actually take some notes and think through, okay, this is what I would bring to the table. This is how I can offer my expertise, and here's how I can leverage it for myself. So let's just start right off the bat. How do you identify the right stories and topics from your life and from your expertise to share on podcasts? Because a big part of pitching yourself is, well, why you like, why should they bring you on as a guest? What do you bring to the table, and what do you have that you can talk about? So how do you help your clients identify those stories and topics?

Michelle Glogovac [00:11:44]:

And this is the hardest thing to do as an individual. This was the hardest chapter in my book to actually write. It was chapter one, and it took me the longest because for me, it comes naturally that we'll have a conversation. I go, oh, that's interesting, and I'll write it down. Oh, that's a good point. We should write this down. These should be your topics, and it's really making sure that you do know your story and talk to other people about it. What is it that is interesting and makes you stand out? I always emphasize, don't be generic. Do not say I can teach you how to be a six figure, seven figure entrepreneur. That is so boring. Everyone and their mother. You just look at the Internet, and it's like, oh, this is how I made $10,000 last month. And you're like, okay, next, give me more. What makes you special? What makes you stand out? And you can start with that journey of the three Pivots that you made since college that have nothing to do with where you are today. But what was it that made you make those switches? Everyone loves the story of how you came to be, how to inspire others, what motivates you? Everyone loves to hear that kind of a story. So I say start with your personal story. If you have a business, if you have a book, it really doesn't matter what you have. Why do you do what you do? I shared that I wanted to make the world a better place for my kids. And I believe that sharing the stories of others so that we can learn empathy, we can be inspired, motivated, and educated is going to make the world a better place. And that's why I do what I do. So why is it that you have your podcast? Why is it that you are a content marketer? What is it that makes you want to get up in the morning to do your job and share that? Why create a topic around it that really explains it? That isn't like, here's why I am who I am, but what it is that you do. And put the why in there. I think those are really simple topics to start off with that are absolutely unique to you. And if you have a team, bring them into it. Have them share their why as a podcast interview for others. I work with a nonprofit right now, and we've got six team members that I'm pitching, and they all have a different why behind why they're with this nonprofit, why they're fighting for whatever it is they're fighting for. And it makes them unique and it allows others to hear, oh, this is a really good reason why you would fight for this cause now I get it. So I think looking at those kind of instances that are personal to you are going to be great starting points for topics and then whatever it is that you do, what can you do? Do you have three tips to do X, Y, and Z? Do you have five ways to do whatever it is and use those as topics to educate? Think about how you can inspire people with your why. Educate them with what you do. Motivate them with your story of how you came to be, who you are. And those are great avenues. I think I need to write this down because this is going to be a whole nother guide that I'm going to create on this. But those are really good starting points of these are the topic kind of categories and then go from there. And that is actually in the book, but not the way I just said it. I really like what just came out of my mouth.

Travis Albritton [00:15:17]:

Well, I'm glad this is recorded and it will be published and available over Rssc till the end of time. So it'll be a good companion resource if you're not able to submit any more revisions. I definitely agree with that. I think when I think about myself, when I'm positioning myself and my expertise, I actually lead with things that are very personal that make me a category of one, because you're right. There's a number of business coaches and consultants that teach you how to grow your business or be better at sales or do social media marketing. And so it's like, okay, the number of podcast experts is growing, which is good, but then it's harder to stand out. So then when I lead with, yeah, I used to be a rocket scientist and now I'm professional podcaster, it's like, whoa, well, tell me that story. That's interesting. How'd that happen, right? Yeah. It's like there aren't that many of us that are rocket scientists and not discounting the value of stories, because I think especially as professionals, it's like you go into every environment with your LinkedIn face on. It's like your three quarter turn profile pick with the Owen Miller one shoulder up, one down. Exactly. You can't see the basketball shorts on underneath, but you see the jacket, right. And you feel like you have to lead with expertise. You have to lead with knowledge, you have to lead with information, but people want to connect with other humans. And I think that's what makes podcasting special is it really is more about connection than about information transfer. And so if you can use your stories to communicate your expertise or to communicate key lessons that you've learned or takeaways or things that you can share with others, then that is not only going to make it easier. For podcasters to say yes to you, but it's also going to make that interview really stand out to their listeners, which you can then leverage in any number of ways, which we're going to dig into. But yeah, I totally agree. And even if you're getting stuck, something else that might help is ask people that are close to you, like, what makes me unique? What makes me special? When you think about me, why am I different? Why would I be valuable to somebody as a resource or as a guest on their show? What are the things that you think about? And they'll probably tell you things that you've thought about but then also might be surprised like, oh, well, you're really good at X, I never really thought about that. So also tap into the circle of people close to you, whether they're coworkers or family or friends, to help illuminate some of those things that might be under the surface.

Michelle Glogovac [00:17:44]:

And that can be really uncomfortable. Trust me, I know. Because recently I will have an email that comes in and says, oh, you inspire me. And I'm like, what? Why? Are you kidding me? And I had to ask my therapist about this. I'm like, this is a little like, what is going on here? And she goes, did you ask them why? Well, no. She goes, well, that's your homework. Go ask why. What is it that's inspiring to you? And keep that in a folder. And it is a little weird at first to say, hey, what do you mean come back? Why do I inspire you? What is it that you can pinpoint to me to help me understand that and keep it in a folder so you can refer back to it? Because those are your stories, just as you said.

Travis Albritton [00:18:26]:

Yeah, 100%. So once you have those topics, those stories identified and you're working with a professional like Michelle and you start putting together media kits and headshots and one pagers and things like that, now it's time to actually start reaching out. Now that you're fully prepared and we're not going to cover all the details there, if you want to, you can follow up with Michelle. She'd be happy to walk you through all those things and what you can expect. But I've seen pitching go really well, like cold outreach to podcasts, and I've also seen it crash and burn and been on the receiving end of both of those. So in my mind, there's two pieces there's. First and foremost, finding the right podcasts for the right guest. So if your expertise is growing a business, you're not going to reach out and pitch the pig farming podcast. That's not the right fit, even if they would happen to say yes. So the first piece is, what is your process for researching and finding those right fit podcasts? And then when you do reach out, what's that first interaction look like? How do you reach out with a first initial email that demonstrates authenticity and connection and that you actually want to benefit them and it's not completely self serving.

Michelle Glogovac [00:19:38]:

So the first step is working with the client on identifying not just who your target audience is and who you want to reach, but what are your end goals, what is it that you are trying to do ultimately in the end with these interviews? So identifying who it is that we want to talk to, then the research part comes. And we use Podchaser, we use Instagram, we use Google, we use any kind of search engine that you can think of and start using keywords know business podcast, marketing podcast, looking that way, taking the hashtags off Instagram. And once we identify some podcasts, then we dive into each one. We look at the episodes. If there's one that we go, oh, you know what? This one sounds like it might resonate with the client. We listen to it, and in listening to it, we can then relate to the host and everything. We take notes on all of it so that we know, oh yeah, I went back and I pitched the client and I used this episode and I said, this is why it related to me. It related to the client, whatever reason it was. But that initial interaction is acknowledging I've listened to your show. I not only listen to it because I get a lot of, hey, my simplified life was great. And so I have this client and I'm like, what is it that is so great? Let's be specific. Or they take words out of the show description. No, this is very lazy. We are not lazy. We personalize each pitch based on the host. And I've seen agencies say, well, we personalize each pitch based on the guest. That is, copy and paste. Personalizing it to the host means that every single email that goes out is different. The only things that are the same are the two or three sentence biography notes and the topics, because the person's not going to change that we're pitching, but the topics will be know out of six, we're pitching two or three, and those will change depending on the podcast. Who the person is isn't going to change. So their biography is not going to change. The hyperlinks aren't going to change, but saying, hey, Travis, I listened to your show, and when you recorded with this guest, whoever it know, the part where you mentioned repurposing and doing this and this and this. That's what struck with me because in my business, I'm repurposing and really connecting and showing the value that you found in that episode. That's the personalization part. And I'm sure you'll agree that the bad pitches have no personalization. You can tell that they just threw spaghetti on the wall. It's the spray and pray method of, I'm just going to send this out to 100 and hope that I get one.

Travis Albritton [00:22:23]:

Yes, I've received lots of those because up until recently, you had to have a contact email associated with your RSS feed, which is how you get listed in places like Apple, podcasts and Spotify. And so there are websites that would just scrape these databases, basically create these email lists from you didn't give them their email, they just discovered it because it was publicly available. And they would just start sending you stuff, just sending you spam, whether it's services or agencies or podcast, booking agencies, things like that. And you can definitely tell when someone's actually taken the time. What a novel concept to actually listen to the show that they were trying to pitch a guest to be on. What an amazing original thought, taking the time to do that, because, yeah, my favorites are and some of them are actually funny. It's like you thought that this would work. Like you sent this thinking I might say yes. You didn't spell my name right. It says Hi, first name in brackets in the introduction field, right? Nothing says this has been personalized for you. Like, oh, we forgot to take out these placeholders and put in your information. No, that makes a huge difference because as a podcaster, especially if you're used to receiving all of these different pitches, you're used to them, it's like, oh, another guest pitch. And then half the time you don't even open it. But when you do, you're looking for reasons to say no. You're looking for reasons to be like, this is just not a good fit. They don't care about me, they don't care about my show. They don't care if it's actually going to be good for me. They just know a client's paying them to get them on podcasts. So they're spamming me and hoping that they get a yes. I love your approach because it's definitely different than the reputation the industry has gotten. Now, there are certainly, in any industry, good actors and bad actors. And I'm grateful that you're not the only one that's doing a good job, but you certainly are. And so I think especially if you are thinking about pitching yourself on your own or assigning it to a VA or something like that, make sure that you do your homework on the shows that you're pitching. Make sure it's a good match, a good fit, that you have some context for the show, for why you'd be good. Even in the past, what I have done is I would look at the topics that they've covered and then imagine what are the things they haven't talked about yet that this audience would benefit from that I could bring to the table. So I'm not just coming in to repeat information that three other guests have already talked about. I'm bringing something new, something fresh. But I know that it's contextual to the podcast that I'm reaching out to because I've done my homework, I've done my research and actually seen, this is something you need, this is something you don't have. So let me offer this and as an ask, not as an expectation that you have to give it to me or you have to give me this placement, but just as, hey, you probably didn't know who I am before now, now you do. This is how I could potentially serve you in your audience. Let me know if you want to connect.

Michelle Glogovac [00:25:19]:

And that's why I say choose two or three of your topics. Don't put them all into the pitch. Email again. Laziness, you've got your media kit attached? We're assuming that you do because after this interview, you will. And that's going to house everything that there is. That's why your Pitch doesn't need to have your full biography know, and she resides in San Jose with her husband and two children. That doesn't have to go in the actual pitch, but it's all in your media kit. So you don't have to overload them with information. Give them what they truly need to say yes, but make it easy by attaching the media kit and all of the hyperlinks and everything in there 100%.

Travis Albritton [00:26:01]:

So you got a yes. All right, so we're moving forward. You pitched somebody, they said yes, I'd love to have you as a guest. You show up promptly on time. You've decluttered your background so there's not like dirty laundry hanging out on the chair. You put the dog away. This is something I have to do from time to time. I think the last interview that I posted here, dogs just going nuts and it was so obtrusive we couldn't even edit it out. Sort of stayed in, such as work from home life. So you've absolutely crushed your interview. It's published, it's live. How do you leverage that long form audio and or video content to both promote the show that you are on as a thank you for like, hey, let me tell my audience about this. But then how can you turn around and use pieces of that for yourself for your own purposes? Whether it's your business or your personal brand or social media content? What are the ways that you've seen people successfully repurpose their guest appearances on their own platforms?

Michelle Glogovac [00:26:57]:

Well, I'm going to tell you how not to do it. And don't just post it in your stories. Tag the host and be like, that was my thanks for 24 hours. That is not the way to do. It. I advise all of my clients to create templates for Instagram, for Facebook, for any kind of platform that you are on. Create a template. I use Canva so that you can easily drop in cover art, change up the title and create posts that will live forever in all of your feeds. That is truly the simplest starting point to do it, but then put it on your website. I ask every host that does interviews for us to send us their embed code link. Sometimes we have people come back going, I don't know what that is. So we explain it. And some clients are like, what am I supposed to do with it? Just put it in your website. It's an HTML code. It's literally copy and paste. If I can do it, you can do it. Because I certainly am not a rocket scientist. I am not a website designer either. But take the embed code which is going to allow your website visitors to play the episode from your website. Use your own show notes, create a blog post. I was on this episode of this podcast and this is what we talked about. This is where your SEO comes in. What are the highlights that you used? What are the topics that you discussed, and give an overview of it. Put it as a blog post on your website so that it is now living forever. When you add the code, your website visitor doesn't have to leave to listen to it and the host is getting the download. So it's a win win right there for everybody. You should have a media or press page on your website that shows everywhere you've been featured. If you go to my website, you'll see that the top part is going to be all the media traditional stuff that there is and then it's all of the podcasts. I use the COVID art as the little icon I put in what the title of the episode is, and you just click on it and it'll bring you right to the page to listen to the show or to read the interview, whatever it is, and then put it in other places as well. Pinterest is another place that I use that I've mentioned before. But then you can also download a transcript. You can request the transcript, you can download it yourself. We request one for every client and then we identify at least three quotes that the client said in an interview that we feel is deemed quote worthy of creating a graphic out of quote yourself. I think so often we were not comfortable with promoting ourselves and really quoting ourselves. For the longest time I was quoting Michelle Obama and Oprah on my Instagram and then I went, wait, I've got some pretty good quotes too. I should be promoting myself. And so we need to get comfortable with using our own quotes that are going to inspire and educate someone that comes to our page and goes, oh, that's right, yes. Let me read more about that. So take the episode, create quote graphics out of it, take the audio and create little videos of it. If you want to create the voice waveframe, I'm stumbling over those words. But create an audiogram out of it. There's so much that you can create for social media, for your website, and to repurpose it. And don't be afraid to go back and reintroduce an episode because people forget that's first of all, and not everyone sees it. We know that the whole algorithm thing with all the social media platforms is that you're only reaching X amount of your followers. So don't be afraid to keep promoting it. Use a different graphic, use the COVID art one time, use something with your headshot in it another time. Use the quote graphic another time and keep promoting it because the same people aren't going to see the same episode over and over again. You're going to reach a new audience. So those are just a few ways of how you can take one interview and repurpose it into a ton of more marketing. I think I've identified in the book like 14 ways that you can repurpose a single interview. And that's like using one part of the interview versus take three quotes and repurpose those in different ways. So it's endless. You could probably do a month of content from one interview.

Travis Albritton [00:31:16]:

Yeah, and I think that's the beauty of it, too, is when you start with long form, it's so easy to break it down into short form pieces which work better on social media. Right. It's very rare for someone to watch an Instagram live for 45 minutes of somebody recording a podcast, right, or a recording of a podcast, but they'll watch a 62nd video clip from it and then if they like what they hear, tag that episode to listen to later when they're in the car. So they work in concert together, for sure. And something else, too is like, hey, if you're a guest on a podcast and you post it on your website, in a blog, you can promote that to your email newsletter internally as if it's your own piece of content, because you contributed to it, right. You're just as much a contributor as the person that's the host. And so using that as a way, too, of sharing your company story, sharing your expertise, building your personal brand, and then telling people about it and bringing them back to your website to get some valuable content. And oh, by the way, while they're there to check out your products and services. And it's a great way to have an excuse to bring people to your website where you can continue the conversation and explore other ways to connect with them.

Michelle Glogovac [00:32:26]:

Absolutely, yeah. And I think that another thing to mention is when you do have a business or you have a book and you're promoting that you should never go into an interview with the intention of selling anything. Just as we're talking about your topics of what's your story, what can you inspire with and educate with, that's what you should be going into the interview with. And at the end of every interview I have ever heard, the host always says, and where can people find you? And we'll have links in the show notes. That's where you can promote, where they can find you, where they can go buy your book. But it should never be about, I'm going to go and sell my product or service. It's cringeworthy, it's car salesman. Like, sorry, car salesman, but go with the intent of making it something for someone else rather than what's in it for me. I can't stand the agencies who are like, let me tell you how I made a million dollars off podcast interviews. I'd rather say, let me tell you how I changed a life the other day by sharing my story and having someone pivot to make themselves happier or whatever it is. That's why I go into it the way I do. But don't go in with the intention of just selling something.

Travis Albritton [00:33:37]:

Well, I think that comes back to knowing what the strengths are of podcasting and what the weaknesses are. So the weakness, it's not a direct response platform in the same way that Google Ads or Facebook ads or social media or some of the other platforms where it's like you show up pretty graphic, they click a link, within five minutes, they're at a checkout page. That's not really how podcasts work. It's much more about putting yourself in front of people and gaining exposure. Brand lift would be the technical marketing term, right? And so it's less measurable from that standpoint. But then 1218 months later, when you step back and look at the whole big picture of what's moving and what's impacting your business's, bottom line, the growth of your audience. If you're consistent with being a guest on podcast, that becomes one of the primary mechanisms that you're seeing your growth from. And it's like the story I shared earlier, that wasn't a direct response marketing campaign where I found that client. It was super organic through his journey and how it intersected with mine at the right point in right time and it just happened and it was serendipitous almost. But I think that's the magic of podcasts. If you can show up with that service mindset, then that creates that positive connection. And then when they know who you are and what they do and you offer something that they need, then they're going to want to do business with you over somebody else because they know who you are, they know what you're about and what your values are. I totally agree. Don't see a podcast as like a stage to pitch from, but see it as a way to connect with someone else's listeners provide value in their life. The word value is like super overplayed, but really make their life better as a result. Yeah, show up with your authentic self. My favorite brand exercise. How can we as a company be more authentic for our customers? Not by telling them what we actually are like, but what are the magic words that we need to say for them to feel like we're authentic. Yeah. So just be yourself and lead with yourself. And that's really where the magic of podcasting comes in.

Michelle Glogovac [00:35:40]:

I love that, the magic of podcasting, but yes, I completely agree.

Travis Albritton [00:35:46]:

So to kind of wrap up this segment, what advice would you give to people that want to get serious about going on podcasts like mistakes to avoid that we haven't covered yet or key things that can make or break the experience? What would be kind of your parting advice to somebody regardless of whether they want to go with an agency like yours or do it themselves?

Michelle Glogovac [00:36:10]:

I would say, first of all, be prepared with have your links to your website ready. Have somewhere that somebody can go to find out who you are. It doesn't have to be a complicated website. Have a home page, have an about me page, have a media press page and a contact page and really begin with that so that there is a clickable link within your pitch. Identify what topics you can and want to speak on. Get a setup. And it doesn't have to be an expensive setup. A microphone, $30 on Amazon. Done. A headset, you could wear your AirPods, whatever it is, but have something that's wired a good internet connection. These are the simple setup things that you should have because it's going to make you sound like a professional and like you know what you're doing even if you don't. Nobody has to know and then reach out. Be I hate the word authentic. Be just a human being in your pitch. Be realistic, in. I did reach out and I listened to your show and this is what I liked about it and here's the value I can bring. Do that and be ready to spend time, really good quality time on your research and your pitch because it is time consuming. That is literally why people hire me. Yes, I do the topics and everything else, but it takes a lot of time to research and pitch properly. And so if you are doing it right, be prepared to spend hours every week doing the pitches and following up and not annoying. Do not follow up within a day or two. Most podcast hosts have full time jobs. This is not our full time job, believe it or not. We don't get to just sit here and record all day long. So give them a couple of weeks to respond and then do it gently. I've gotten this, made the book an email follow up that just said bing bi N G. And I was like, what? From an agency? What does bing mean? It was just a way to move it to the top of my inbox. That alone gets you deleted. So just a gentle follow up. I'm checking in and I sent you everything already. Let me know if you have any questions. But really just be prepared to spend your time on it and then be appreciative when it does happen. Share the interview not just in your stories, but everywhere that you can possibly share it, because that's what's going to not only make a host want to invite you back someday, but other hosts are going to see what you've done and they'll show their appreciation by inviting you on their show as well. So be genuine, be appreciative, and be patient, because it does take time.

Travis Albritton [00:38:51]:

100%. Well, Michelle, this is the end, right? Where can people go to connect with you, learn more about you, and listen to you? Because you have your own podcast as well.

Michelle Glogovac [00:39:03]:

I do. My website is themlgcollective.com, and soon to launch will be Michelleglogovac.com, where you can find the book and all things about me, because it's all about me, right? My podcast is my simplified life, and you can find me on Instagram @MichelleGlogovac. I'm on Threads and Twitter and Facebook and all of the places that normally you would be. I'm on too many of the places, but you can find me in all of those places. And my book how to Get on Podcasts comes out right now. It's February 2024. Could be January, but I will keep you posted.

Travis Albritton [00:39:41]:

Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Michelle. We'll definitely link to all those things in the show notes, as we should, to make exploring all those awesome resources even easier. Thank you so much.

Michelle Glogovac [00:39:51]:

Thank you so much.

Travis Albritton [00:39:52]:

So my number one takeaway from my conversation with Michelle is to make sure that when you are pitching these podcasters, that you actually listen to the show first. It could know the most recent episode, it could be the shortest episode, but just have some context for what they do, what they talk about, who they are, so that way you really can stand out. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten pitches from agencies or individual podcasters and it's like, do you even know what I talk about? Do you even know what the show is about? And so if you want to separate yourself, get more yeses than no's when you are reaching out and pitching these podcasters, make sure that you listen to the show and you can create some context in the email so they know that you actually know what they talk about and you're showing up to serve them. And it's not completely self interested and self focused. Now, if you want to connect with Michelle, she has some fantastic free resources on her website, Themlgcollective.com, which is linked in the description in the show notes below. And definitely go and listen to her podcast, My Simplified Life, which you can find anywhere. You listen to podcasts. Well, that's it for this week. Hope you enjoyed it. And as always, be honest.