5 Elements of a Swap Worthy Podcast | Kim Stewart

Most podcast guest swaps are lacking true match potential and are more of a quick fix for an episode. This is a problem if you want to keep your podcast valuable for listeners. Thankfully, there’s a framework you can follow to ensure you’re guest swaps are high value! In this episode, Kim Stewart shares 5 elements of a swap-worthy podcast that will ensure every swap you do is high quality! Get ready to make your podcast swaps an easy yes that listeners love!

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Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Podcast Guest Swaps
02:17 Consistency in Publishing Schedule
04:07 Matching Show Description and Episode Titles
05:39 Leveraging FOMO with Guest Names
07:03 Sharing Guest Episodes with Your Community
09:11 Final Thoughts on Creating a Swapworthy Podcast

Takeaways

Podcast guest swaps are effective for growth.
A great show is essential for attracting guests.
Current listener reviews are crucial for credibility.
Consistency in publishing builds trust with hosts.
Show descriptions must align with episode titles.
Leverage guest names to create FOMO.
Sharing guest episodes enhances community engagement.
Social media presence can attract potential guests.
Email lists are valuable for sharing episodes.
Always evaluate your show from another host's perspective.

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Transcript

0:29

You're listening to Podcasting Made Simple. Want to collaborate with other podcast hosts to grow your own show? Well, podcast guest swaps are a super fun and effective way to do it. But before you pitch a guest swap, how can you show the other host at a glance that your show is the must-guest destination? Hi, I'm Kim and I'm so excited to be here today to share with you five elements of a Swapworthy podcast. So the first element is host a great show. I mean, that should be a no brainer to podcast host, right? That's what we all wanna do and that's what we try to do, right? But how can you make it in the other person's eyes, the other host eyes at a quick glance, how can they see that you host a really great show? And the first place they typically look is at your listener reviews. Now, this isn't about the number of reviews on your show necessarily, but it's really just about, you getting listener reviews? Like, do you have a really great show? People can't help but leave you a review, right? And more importantly, do you have current reviews? So if you've been podcasting for a couple of years, And your most current review is from several years ago, maybe when you launched your show, it's really gonna make us scratch our heads, right? Do you really have an audience that you're serving? And so you wanna show that you do have current reviews, just at least like in the last couple of months, that someone has reached out and given you feedback on your show. So also another aspect of hosting a great show is, you know, when I click play and listen to a sample of some of your episodes, what will I hear? Am I gonna hear this long drawn out conversation that takes me forever to listen to, right? It's full of bunch of fluff. Or am I gonna hear a really super solid conversation where there's lots of back and forth between you and the guest and you're really excited about having your guest on the show. So hosting a great show is gonna show the other host that it's an easy yes to say yes to a podcast swap. Then the second element of a swap worthy podcast is to have consistency in your publishing schedule. We're all about consistency as podcast hosts, right? We know that's the key to success, but now we're trying to show another person's eyes when they come and check out your show that you are consistent in your schedule of serving your listeners. So if I look at your show, am I gonna see it's a weekly show? Every episode is on a Wednesday. Every Wednesday, you never miss. The podcast is consistent. Or if it's a seasonal show. Is it obvious, okay, here's the episodes in this season, and I know when the next season is coming. So be sure and tell your listeners that and make it, you know, in your podcast episode title, mention when you're coming back. Because again, that will show me a prospective podcast host I'm looking to swap with, they'll see, okay, I know this show's coming back. So I know my interview might be aired, you know, when they come back. So that will help me say yes to the swap. And then if you're taking a break, like I love to take breaks at Christmas and during the summer. And I always air, I'm a huge Friends fan, so I always air an episode called, We Were On A Break. And then I put in my episode title when I'm gonna be returning from the break. So again, if somebody comes to see my show, they know I'm still an active podcaster, I haven't fallen victim to pod fade, and they know when I'm gonna be coming back to my show. So again, they can be thinking, okay, my guest swap episode could air XYZ time. So again, give them an easy way to say yes. And also something to think about on that is, and I put another podcast host eyes is you wanna show consistency because if you're not showing up consistently for your own listeners, then they might kind of wonder, are you really gonna show up consistently to serve theirs too? Then the third element of a Swapworthy Podcast is your show description and your episode titles match up. And what I mean by that is sometimes we start a podcast and we have a really great podcast description, right? We're so excited that day one. And then we start airing episodes and then we kind of get in our flow and, you know, maybe we start having more interviews and it's more about the guest and the topic they're sharing. And sometimes those don't match up. So we look at a show at a glance, somebody looking at your show might go, well, is it about this, the description, or is it about this, the episode titles? And I'm trying to determine as another podcast host, vetting a swap, right? I'm trying to determine, do you truly serve my target audience? And is this work a swap to me? So we want to make it super obvious that they see that, you know, that your description and your podcast episode titles match up. Also, what's going to make it a super easy way to say yes is they can then see, okay, I know who they serve. I know how they serve. I see how the episode titles are. So I can easily think of an episode topic that I can pitch back and forth. to them. So as the other podcast host, I can see, oh great, this is my target audience. And I immediately have an idea for how I can serve that audience with a topic in mind, you know, because I've seen all your episode titles. Then the fourth element of a Swap Worth It podcast is to leverage some FOMO with your guest names. So we all fall victim to fear of missing out, right? We see other people guesting on shows and we're like, I wanna be a part of that, I wanna be a guest on that podcast. Well, if you've had leaders, influencers in your niche be a guest on your show, how can you get those back up to the top of your feed of your podcast? And it might be simply re-airing the episode, right? On that note, make sure you have the guest's name in your episode title. I know some podcasts have kind of gone away from that. Again, if we are pitching a guest swap, we're trying to make our show be swap-worthy, right, at a glance for another guest. So we want to make sure our guest names are in the title. And so if you don't, for some reason, don't want to re-air the episode as is, you might consider airing maybe a short solo episode where you maybe share some takeaways that are applicable today. Like say maybe there's something newsworthy going on and you're like, this old episode with this guest, they're amazing. Their name, you know, means something. I want to put that back at the top of my feet. I'm just going to air a quick episode that kind of talks about some of the points they made in that interview. And then I can always link to it. But again, it gives me a reason to have their name at the top of the feed again. Then the fifth element of a Swapworthy podcast is sharing your guest episodes with your community. So when another host comes and checks out your show and they click on your links, if you have social links and they're gonna think, okay, they're on social media, they're probably sharing their show on social media, right? So I'm gonna click over and what will I find? Will I see you sharing your guest episodes? And if that's not a part of your content plan, and that's okay, we all have a love-hate relationship with social media, right? But what you could do, if you just have a presence there, you could just plan to post one graphic Like say once a quarter you post a graphic that has all your guest pictures on there. Because again, I would see at a glance, wow, they've had all these cool guests on the show. I want to be a part of that. I want my picture on that graphic next time. Or if you're on a social media platform that's more text based, you could pull takeaways from some of your most popular guests and put those out on social media. So again, at a glance, I can just start seeing. your name associated with all these guest names that you're putting out on social media. So think about that. Now, if you're not on social media, and some people are not on social media, you want to make sure you show where your community is that you're sharing your episodes. So that can be, you know, a Facebook group, a circle group. That could be like if you have videos on your podcast, maybe all your community is on YouTube. So make it really obvious in your description and in your episode. Show notes, you know, where those links go to so we can know at a glance again, you have a community and they are somewhere that they get told when you have a new episode. And this might just be your email list. You may be like, I don't share on social. I don't share anywhere. but I have a really active, engaged email list that opens my emails, they reply to my emails, I share all my episodes, then make that obvious because usually if you have a lead magnet, right, maybe for signing up for your newsletter, or you might say, you know, in your episode description, be sure and get on my email list so you'll get notified always of new episodes and hear about my exciting guest or something like that to tell me at a glance, I know you share your episodes with your community. Now, It's your turn. I want you to think back on these five elements that we've talked about today and go and look at your show with the lens of another podcast host coming to vet it. And go through each of these five things and just see, is there anything you could tweak to make your show even better in the eyes of another podcast host? Because I'm so excited and I want to see you hosting a swap-worthy podcast that podcast hosts cannot wait to be a part of. For more episodes, please visit podmatch.com forward slash episodes. Thank you so much for listening.