You know that podcasting is a great way to reach your target market and grow your business. But which side of the mic is the right place to start – as a host or as a guest expert? While each business has its own marketing and promotion strategy, my recommendation is generally to start as a Guest Expert, and here’s why:
1. The startup costs for a guest expert are very minimal compared to hosting your own show.
To get booked as a guest, you’ll need to invest (if you have not already) in a headshot, one sheet, outreach to podcasts for interviews, and promotion. To start recording interviews as a guest, all you’ll need for equipment is a microphone.
As a host, however, there is a lot more you’ll need to invest in to produce your show. Equipment, media hosting, production, graphics, promotion, show notes, etc. You’ll need to devote time to reach out to potential guests, record intros and outros, develop a show flow and/or questions for each episode, and more. Whether you do these tasks yourself or outsource them, being a host will certainly require more of any investment of your time and money.
2. You can learn what it’s like to speak behind a mic and get ideas for your future podcast.
When you are a guest expert, you get connected with amazing, established hosts who already know the podcasting game. You get invaluable information from these podcasters and are brought into a powerful and often very collaborative network of likeminded professionals. Take notes on how these hosts conduct their interviews, do outreach and promotion, integrate calls-to-action, etc. You can figure out what might work for you and your show and what might not work as well. As a guest expert, you are learning the skills to be a great host right from the source!
3. You have the opportunity to build an audience before you start your own podcast.
Rather than building a following for your own podcast from scratch, you gain exposure as a guest expert to a wealth of established listeners from the shows you get interviewed on. The audience already knows and trusts the host, so if you are delivering quality, engaging content during the interview, it is natural that they will begin following you and be interested in your show when and if you start your own podcast.
4. You can perfect your content as a guest expert, so know what you want to focus on with your own podcast.
You may think your message is set in stone, but until you start speaking it to the masses, you won’t know what is truly resonating with your target market. Being a guest expert allows you to practice and hone in on what you are passionate about and what your audience wants to hear.
At Interview Connections, we can help you tap into the power of podcasting as a great guest expert. When you are ready to make the leap into hosting your own show, we’ll be here to help you with that as well.
