Should podcasters get paid for accepting a guest pitch?

Hey Pod Pals!

This newsletter was lovingly curated (without the use of any AI) in real time on Thursday morning at 9:23am CST.

Breaking News: I've cut my cold brew coffee consumption in half!

I've swapped out half of my cold brew for some trendy mushroom coffee.....so far so good!

Although I did try mixing the two and I would give that a 0/10 recommend...gross!

Let's dive into this mushroom/caffeine powered newsletter!

Real quick before we dive into this week's topic.... ⤵️  

I love helping my clients set up a simple strategy to help them turn their content into new CLIENTS.

If you feel like you are ready for some help with your podcast monetization strategy, hop on my Podcast Profit Potential Discovery Call calendar.

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This week we are going to dive into a great big experiment I'm going to conduct in an attempt to fix one of the most broken parts of the podcasting industry!😱

One of my most favorite things to complain about is all of the spammy podcast guest pitch emails I get EVERY SINGLE DAY (for the last decade!).

I've already banished THREE pod-pitchers to SPAM folder hell this morning....LOL!

I know that what I'm about to say is going to ruffle some feathers out there, but I honestly feel like the podcast guesting industry is BROKEN.

Here are the specifics of what I really don't like about what's going on with podcast guesting:

✅ 1. Podcasters are getting blasted with spammy guest pitch emails every day and NONE of us opted in for this!

PR companies are finding our emails and then they will blast us with emails (and lots of follow up emails) pitching their guests.

Most of these emails are templated AI generated slop.

Half of the time they start with "Dear Podcaster"....or even worse "Dear Amanda"....my name is ADAM dammit!

The PR companies cry out "But we are providing a valuable service to podcasters! All podcasters need great guests and we are making connections! We make the process EASIER!"

Here was my last experience with accepting a guest pitch from a PR firm:

He was promoted as a super famous public speaking coach for many professional athletes and celebrities.

➡️ He showed up late.

➡️ He didn't have a microphone.

➡️ His dog kept running into the room and barking.

➡️ His gardener was running the freakin weed whacker in the background.

➡️ He kept stopping me and trying to coach me about how I was asking my questions....during the interview!

Needless to say....I didn't air this one!

✅ 2. PR companies are (over) charging their clients thousands of dollars to get booked on shows and the podcast hosts get paid ZERO of those dollars.

The podcast host is the most important part of this business equation. If we don't accept these guest referrals then the PR companies do not have a viable offer.

Again...this is a spicy take...but I feel like podcasters SHOULD be paid for accepting guest referrals from a PR company.

Now let me be really clear: I do NOT think podcasters should charge all of their guests to be on their show!

I don't like that business model at all, and that is not what I'm talking about here in this newsletter.

I just feel like if a PR company is making thousands of dollars from putting their clients on podcasts, we the podcasters deserve our fair cut if we choose to accept a guest pitch.

✅ 3. I feel like the whole "podcast guest tour" model is too focused on getting booked on a specific number of shows....when what the guest should be concerned with is DOWNLOADS.

The typical model is this:

Pay us XYZ thousands of dollars and we will get you booked on 10 shows.

The reality is that these 10 shows are probably getting less than 100 downloads per episode......most a LOT lower than that!

I think the guests should be more focused about total podcast download exposure.

If I'm a guest, I'd much rather get booked on four shows doing 300+ downloads per episode than ten shows that are getting 20 downloads per episode.

So here's the deal Pod Pals, I'm done complaining about all this and I'm going to try and fix it with a great big experiment... and I need your help to see if it will actually work!

What I'm going to attempt to do is completely un-scalable....LOL.

But if it works I think it will send a message to PR companies that things need to change and a new standard can be set.

I'm calling this my Upgraded Podcast Guesting Experiment.

Here are the core principles that I'm using as I conduct this experiment:

🎯 1. I'm going to PAY podcast hosts between $50-$300 for accepting a guest referral. 

The payment amount is based on your average downloads per episode.

Podcasters will get paid when the episode goes live.

🎯 2. There will be ZERO spammy unsolicited pitch emails.

Any podcaster that wants to participate must opt-in and fill out a form for accepting guest referrals. 

If I have a solid guest connection for you I will send you an email with the subject line: PAID Podcast Guest connection.

🎯 3. If you want to participate in the experiment by getting booked as a podcast guest you will be able to pick from a menu of shows and you will be able to see how many downloads they are averaging.

I've created a credit system that is focused on the size of the audience instead of getting booked on a specific number of shows.

Here are a few quick notes about who is qualified:

➡️ If you want to be a paid podcast host you need to be averaging 50 downloads per episode. Just take your total downloads divided by your total amount of episodes to find your average.

➡️ I'm starting off by focusing on TWO niche podcasting categories:

Health: Wellness/Spirituality/Personal Growth

Business: Entrepreneurship/Marketing/Social Media

If you don't have a show in these categories or if you don't want to be a guest on these types of shows then my experiment is not for you (for now!). 

So here's the deal Pod Pals: I have NO idea if this is going to work or not. 

I don't know if podcasters will be interested.

I don't know if people who want to be a guest on shows will be interested.

I am confident that this is going to take a lot more work and be a lot harder than I'm currently anticipating.😆

So let's just give it a whirl and find out!

Even if this is a complete flop it might just get some folks thinking differently about the podcast guesting industry and we can set a new standard.

If I can keep a few spammy emails out of your inbox and get some podcasters paid....it will be worth it!

If you want to get all the info, opt in as a paid podcast host, or apply to go on an Upgraded podcast guest tour just head over to the website!

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🤩 Client Testimonial of the week: My client Emily Murphy has a show called Health, Hormones, and Done with Dieting.

Check out what she has to say about being in my Group Coaching program: 

"Adam showed me how to clearly outline my customer journey and help make my podcast a part of my business funnel. Now my podcast is helping me get on sales calls with hot leads!"

Ready for some help with learning how to turn your content into new CLIENTS? Hop on my Podcast Profit Potential Discovery Call Calendar.

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New Content for this week:

🎙️ Podcasting Business School EP 609: Web based SEO strategies for content creators with my guest Jessica Freeman from The Ordinary Business podcast.

I consider myself to be an EXPERT when it comes to podcast SEO, but I'm the complete opposite of an expert when it comes to web based SEO strategies.

So I invited my pod pal Jessica onto the show to drop some hot tips and strategies to help us all level up our web SEO to grow our audience and get clients!

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 

 

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Talk to you next week!

Your Pod Pal,

Adam

 

⭐️ P.S. Ready for some help with your podcast launch, growth, or with getting more clients from your podcast? 

Hop on my calendar for a Podcast Profit Potential Discovery Call and we can discuss how we can work together.