Guesting on podcasts is a consistently strong way to promote your business, product, or self — and earn a good backlink to boost your website’s SEO while you’re at it. But before you reap the benefits, you have to actually do that guesting stuff. 

In order to do so, you have to pitch yourself to podcast hosts. In this article we cover how to pitch yourself to podcasts, including what to include in your pitch, how to organize the pitch, and the best way to pitch hundreds of podcasts with minimal effort.

Find the right podcasts to pitch

Step one in pitching podcasts is finding the right podcasts to pitch. Of course, if you run a business selling organic self-care goods, it doesn’t make much sense to pitch yourself to a podcast in the tech space, right?

Find as many podcasts as you can in your niche, and gather email addresses for them. This is easier than ever now, thanks to our new service Podcast Hawk, which allows you to search thousands of podcasts to find the best ones to pitch. See below for more info.

When cold pitching, quantity is key — you’re not going to get on every show you pitch! Your success percentage can vary based on your niche and how many podcasts there are, but in general you want to cast a wide net. The more shows you pitch, the more shows you’ll guest on.

Every podcast doesn’t have to be exactly in your niche, but should be close enough that the listeners of the show will take value from listening to what you have to say. The benefit you have is that you can frame your story or knowledge in a way that benefits those listeners, and on the next show you guest on, you can reframe it enough that those listeners will take value as well.

Build your boilerplate text

The point of a pitch in this circumstance is to show how you can provide value to a podcast’s listeners by sharing your knowledge or story. As such, your pitch needs to convey that have knowledge or a story to share. 

This should be relevant to the podcasts you pitch, and you can frame it that way in your boilerplate text. Boilerplate text should always contain a few pieces of basic info, along with a hook that gets people interested:

• Your basic bio and background
• Why you’re an expert in your field
• Why you will add value to their podcast/for their listeners

This should be no more than two to three short paragraphs (because who wants to read a long email from someone you’ve never met?!)

For example, if you run a business that offers online guitar lessons, you likely want to pitch podcasts that are listened to by musicians or aspiring musicians. Convey in your pitch that you have knowledge that is valuable to those listeners, like how you went about restoring an old vintage guitar and getting it tuned up for the stage. 

Hey,

My name is Ron Jackson. (Customized text based on podcast genre, see below). 

I’m a lifelong musician who now teaches guitar lessons online, and also fixes up vintage instruments in my spare time. I’ve fixed old guitars that have gone on to sell for thousands of dollars and have been used onstage by famous guitarists like Eric Clapton, Beck, and Tom Delonge.  

As you might imagine, I’ve had some crazy times with some of these musicians. I’d love to share some stories with your listeners, along with actionable tips to help them keep their instruments sounding great for years to come.

If you’re interested, you can learn more about me here (hyperlink your website). Thanks for your time, and I hope to hear from you!

Take care,

Your name

Contact info/website

Add a few lines of customized copy

Now that you’ve written your boilerplate text, you’re almost ready to send it out into the world. Here’s the thing — everyone, including the hosts of the podcasts you plan to pitch, receives an awful lot of spam. 

You know what we’re talking about. You open an email and two lines in you can tell that what you’re reading is a template that’s likely been sent to hundreds if not thousands of people. 

There’s nothing appealing about that!

Sure, you want to get your basic points across with your boilerplate text. But adding a sentence or two that is specifically tailored to the host goes a long way in getting a response and building a positive relationship.

Do a bit of basic research on the show and the hosts, and tie in something that you relate to. Maybe you’re both big football fans or went to the same university. If nothing jumps out at you, at least throw them a compliment saying you appreciate their show and reference a specific episode in the past that shows you’ve listened to their show and know what you’re getting into.

Not only does this make your email seem more personal, but it also gives the host the impression that you are a fan and have something productive to add to their content, and you’re not just reaching out to benefit yourself. 

If you plan to pitch multiple podcasts at once, that’s ok — you can include a couple of sentences that will appeal to hosts across an entire genre of shows.

It’s best to put this copy at the top, so that the reader sees it right away. Even if the host has a staffer that filters pitches, that staffer is more likely to prioritize yours because it isn’t obviously spam.

How Podcast Hawk fits in

Podcast Hawk allows you to seamlessly search and identify podcasts to pitch from the thousands upon thousands that are out there. And, we make it super easy by allowing you to create lists of the shows you want to pitch, export those lists, and we even provide the email contact information for show,

We allow you to create your pitch and then send it right from the software. This offers you three main benefits:

• You keep all your contacts and pitches in the same place
• You can email hundreds of podcasts seamlessly without having to send emails one by one or worry about tripping Spam filters by sending hundreds of emails from your personal inbox.
• You handle responses and coordinate bookings with the show hosts, and enjoy the promotional and relationship benefits that follow!

See how it works here.