A great way to attract listeners to your podcast is to invite guests. It adds variety, can give valuable content to the show, and may also enable you to tap into your guest’s fan base.

In today’s episode, I will talk about how you can get the best guests on your podcast, even when you just started. Tune in now to learn more!

How To Select The Right Guests

My biggest tip when selecting guests: have your audience in mind. Think about what your audience expects out of your podcast. Is the topic you’ll talk about aligned with your audience’s interests?

Let’s say you have invited a guest with a huge audience, but her content is not related to yours. Your audience might lose interest because they can’t relate. Your guest’s listeners are not your listeners. Even when your guest has a huge audience, it doesn’t mean that all these people are going to listen to your podcast.

“Don’t make these numbers more important than what they actually are and really think about what the message is that the guest can share with your audience.” – Anne Claessen

Tips On How To Invite Big Names To Your Show

Having a guest on your show to share some ideas is fantastic. It’s nice to have someone to chat with about a specific issue or topic. If you select the right guests, your listeners will learn a lot.

If you’re a podcaster who wants to start inviting guests, but is scared that your invitation may be declined, here are a few tips you can use to get a big name on your show.

Do not overthink it. A lot of people love talking about themselves, and podcasting is super fun. So if you ask people, “Do you want to talk about yourself and come on my podcast?” a lot of people will already say yes, because it’s easy and fun.

Even if your podcast has not been launched yet, you can give your potential guest an idea of what it will be about. Consider creating a trailer episode, so the guest can see how serious you are about what you’re doing.

If you already have a space on your website that is reserved for your podcast once it’s launched, send people there. You can have a description, maybe a podcast cover if you have it, or even if you don’t have it, you can have the name there. Just give as much info as you can.

Be yourself and have fun, show the guest that you’re cool and you can have fun together while recording the episode.

After Releasing The Episode

When you release the episode, you’re not done!

You have to inform your guests about it. I didn’t always make this a priority, but it’s actually really important to tell your guests when the episode is live. Send them the link and also tell them what to do with it. 

Before you start reaching out to guests for your podcast, I want to give you one last big tip. Don’t forget to be yourself and have fun while recording!

Want to know how podcaster Sophia Lorena got over 140 people interviewed? Sophia gained the experience of being unafraid to start with nothing. Listen here:  How A Young Podcaster Got Through Her Limiting Beliefs To Create The Podcast She Always Wanted