Podcast Guesting as a Referral Engine | Christine Campbell Rapin

Most podcast guests focus on reaching listeners, but the fastest way to get clients is actually through the host. In this episode, Christine Campbell Rapin reveals how to turn podcast guesting into a referral engine by building strong relationships with hosts. Learn how to position yourself, create partnerships, and get introductions that lead to real business. Get ready to make podcast guesting your most powerful client-generation tool!

MORE FROM THIS EPISODE: HTTPS://PODMATCH.COM/EP/337

Chapters

00:00 The Power of Podcast Guesting
02:59 Building Relationships with Hosts
05:49 Professionalism and Preparation
09:11 Long-Term Strategies for Success
12:03 The Importance of Gratitude and Reciprocity

Takeaways

Podcast guesting can create leads, but it's challenging to control.
Referrals from hosts are a faster way to find clients.
Choosing the right shows is crucial for success.
Engage with hosts before pitching to build relationships.
Show up professionally to make a good impression.
Deliver value to the host and their audience.
Podcasting is a long-term strategy for visibility.
Nurturing relationships with hosts can lead to more opportunities.
Express gratitude to hosts for referrals and support.
Treat podcast guesting as a relationship-building exercise, not a transaction.

MORE FROM THIS EPISODE: HTTPS://PODMATCH.COM/EP/337

Chapters

• 0:00 The Power of Podcast Guesting
• 2:59 Building Relationships with Hosts
• 5:49 Professionalism and Preparation
• 9:11 Long-Term Strategies for Success
• 12:03 The Importance of Gratitude and Reciprocity

Transcript

You're listening to Podcasting Made Simple. One of the biggest things that people choose to spend time podcast guesting for is a belief that it will create leads, and those leads will become paid clients. You think the answer is in the audience, the listeners of the show. And while that may happen, it's really, really hard to control.

And so I want to shift your perspective and show you the faster way to find clients with podcast guesting. It is through creating referrals with the host. I am Christine Campbell-Rappin, and I have interviewed hundreds of guests on multiple platforms over the years. And podcasting can be a great source of lead generation, but truthfully, most guests are missing golden opportunities

for fast, warm introductions and getting clients in the next 90 days. So let me break it down. What can make you exceptional as a podcast guest? So when it comes to introductions and finding ideal leads for you, warm introductions have a faster track and a higher conversion rate than every source of cold traffic out there.

And so I want you to be thinking about where you're playing, how you're playing, and how to leverage your guessing better. It all starts down to the host and choosing the right shows that are appropriate for buying behavior. So many people think the goal is just be on a podcast and get airtime. But my friends, if you are in the wrong room,

in the wrong audience with the wrong message that does not tie to a program or service that people will pay you for, you are colossally wasting your time. Stop it. Instead, I want you to think about your business need. What are your programs and services and who is your next buyer? You could use the word shopper, client, or customer. For me, I always talk in terms of the buyer. The buyer audience

profile is what you need to be gauging when you research which shows you want to be on. Because you want to be in the room of buyers is the fast path to getting your next client in your ecosystem. So do the research about the show, talk to show producers and ask them who are they targeting and make sure there's a very strong overlap. And I also recommend picking shows where the hosts

programs and services and offers are in sequence of your delivery. That if the two of you come together, you get better results for the buyer, the shopper or the customer. Because when that happens, that's magic. That's exactly what we do with our show. My show is designed intentionally to be a referral engine, not to be a lead generator directly. And it's working spectacularly. So you do your research.

And when you're researching the show, you are starting to engage with the host. That means listening to episodes, commenting on the episodes, taking nuggets from the episodes and putting that public on social media. It means reviewing the show and connecting on social media platforms, not just with the show, but with the host as an individual. Because my friends, remember, people do business with people.

even in the world of a lot of technology and especially in the world of AI, they have a personal conversation that can add so much value to your bottom line. So you're building the relationship with the show and you understand the audience. It's an overlap with who your buyers are. And you start to engage with the host and say, I believe I have several ideas that could be of value to your show.

Would you be interested in a conversation around that? That is the basic details for your application. And I will tell you this, please, if you want clients, don't outsource this relationship building to an agency. 99 % of agency pitches get tossed on our platform because the people who are are pitching a concept, a topic,

But I don't care so much about the topic. I care about the relationship referral of the guest themselves. And if a guest won't engage with me, won't directly support me, I am not interested in you as a guest on my show. So put together a very crafted, tailored pitch to support the individual who is hosting the show so that they can look good in front of their audience, so that they can add value to their audience.

and so that they can add value to their network. Because the only reason a host has a show is to add value to their network, value to their clients, and to be of service to the next client for them. Interesting, right? So you've done some research, you're targeted with your approach, and that I want you to show up professional. And I am gobsmacked.

that I have to state that. But you need to be prepared to put your best foot forward in front of somebody who could open their Rolodex, yes, I'm dating myself, to their network, their personal professional network and their audience, all of which they have a very strong gatekeeping natural instinct to protect. That means if I have told you for our show that it's video and you need to show up looking with great lighting, great sound in a professional environment,

Do not show up in your jammies at night at three o'clock in the morning and say, is that what we're doing? And trust me, the reason I'm still stating this, I'm gobsmacked. It needs to be said. Show up professionally if you expect people to pay you and you will see exponential dividends and you can really stand out from a crowd. So you show up professional and you ask the host these beautiful questions. We're here to talk about this. How best can I be of service to you?

and to your audience in that order. And then deliver. Deliver what you promised. And after you've completed the recording, it doesn't stop there. You should be posting on social media that you were interviewing on that podcast. You should be tagging professionally the podcast and the human host across your social media platforms. When the release date comes out, you want to be a great

promoter of the episode. And here is the golden bonus point to building a great person who's going to advocate for you, the host, is that podcasting is a long-tail strategy. You should be picking topics that have a good long shelf life and that you want to be associated with for years because search engines will pull this content, especially if it's video content, for a long period of time.

I have a great personal story about that. My show has been around for years and we have been putting video and audio content out since day one. A friend of mine halfway around the world, a question around building reciprocity and building trust with your next buyer in her business. And she Googled Chat GPT or she didn't Google, she entered Chat GPT and Chat GPT showed my podcast in episode recommendation number five.

That long tail, I had no idea when I recorded it two years earlier that it would be in ChatGBT, because ChatGBT was not a thing when I recorded it. And yet it was tailored, specific, valued, and was given as a resource when her query was entered. It's awesome. That human connection to the host, which was me, helped her land her first client in a new geography. So if you want clients, think this through. Long tail.

be of service, be of value. So if your bonus point, listening, don't forget that that podcast has great value well after the original air date. Going back and having my past hosts or my past guests go in and reshare episodes down the road is a beautiful way to distinguish yourself. So let's just recap where we are.

If you want to build clients out of podcast guesting, it is not the abstract 50,000 feet listener that can be the next client. It happens, but it's rare. It is actually the direct relationship with the host that can add a faster path. Because that host, if you do a great job nurturing the relationship, being committed to the relationship long-term, because you guys are strategic partners because you share the same audience of

buyers or you're in sequence of the buyer to get better results, you don't need to be on thousands of shows to see big ripples. You can be on a dozen shows and see massive momentum. Because truly, the host is the key to it all. Nurture the relationship with the host before. Show up professional. Say to the host when you have wrapped the episode, first off,

Thank you for the gift of sharing me with your audience. How can I be of service to you? How can I be of service, particularly for your individual business? That's most important to the host. How can I be of service to your show beyond being a great guest promoter? How can I introduce potential other guests to you? And are you, as a host, looking for other stages? Because I, as a guest,

I've been on many platforms. Maybe I can introduce you to hosts. That level of care, that level of human-to-human support has huge ripples, huge ripples. And I will tell you from having recorded 300 episodes plus so far in multiple shows, there's probably five guests that have taken the time to do this. Podcasting is not a hit and run exercise.

It is not the fastest path to cash from an audience member perspective, but it can be a very direct path to cash when you build relationship and you build reciprocity and you build faith, trust, and confidence with the hosts. The hosts are where it's at, my friends. So let me conclude and just wrap this up. Podcast guesting is incredible.

If you are not prepared to build the relationships human to human with the host, this should not be your number one strategy, or even in your top three. Because outsourcing this to an agency loses all momentum. In the world where people do business with people, people powered referrals are the fastest path to cash.

And one final note, if you do find amazing leads that come from your host network through their listener and or through their personal or professional network, say thank you, celebrate that, let the host know. And personally, I always put cash in their pocket as a show of appreciation.

My friends, look forward to seeing you around the world of podcasting. Come out, be a great guest, get those referrals, and please stop treating podcast guesting as a hit and run. Build rich relationships with the hosts, and you will have fast path to cash. I'll see you on the inside. For more episodes, please visit podmatch.com forward slash episodes. Thank you so much for listening.