Getting An Interview ~ Episode 11
Want an interview? Well, if you are an author, have a service or sell a product this is a great way to let people from all over the world know about what you have to offer.
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How Do You Get An Interview?
I’ve met people and in the course of a conversation I’ll say, “Hey, can I interview you? I’d love to interview you about ____, my audience would enjoy what you have to say!” Believe me, this happens rarely. But I am approached online often by people I don’t know.
What I have learned is people with a book, a product or a service often approach me in a way that is not going to get them an interview on my podcast and I host several! So if you have something that you want to share, this is important information for you.
I have a question for you. I actually have several questions and this is something that I would like you to think about if you want an interview.
- Why do you want that interview? If you’re going to say, I want to make money, then that is a sure fire way to fail. I have found that if you don’t have passion-passion-and-passion, you can’t fake it and if you’re on an interview and you’re not excited about the topic and you don’t have a lot to bring to the table, it’s going to show.
- What do you have to share that is unique? I shared with you in a previous episode that I wrote a book on writing and publishing. What makes my book unique? It’s short. You can read it in two to four hours and it’s like having a conversation with me. It is my consultation in a nutshell. You can find it on Amazon.
- How can you capture the eye of someone who has a platform that you want to be featured on? If you didn’t listen to Episode Nine on Connections, go back and listen to that episode or re-listen to it and you will find the importance of catching the eye of a potential podcaster by following them on social media and connecting with them in that way. Be sure to comment and leave a nice review 🙂 All this helps.
Being unique is important. It can be as simple as taking a complex topic and breaking it down. Like I shared with you about my Information In A Nutshell book and we did this in the second book in the Information Nutshell series and that is written by a CPA who wrote Business Tips and Taxes for Writers and Bloggers. Again, a very short book that is going to be something you can access with information that is going to help you to be successful in your business.
The secret sauce in this podcast on how to get an interview is the importance of connections. (If you’ve listened to past episodes, the secret sauce is a little bit of information I’m going to give you that is so important.) This is a surefire way to be seen and to make contact with people who have a platform. For example, Jeanne Burke wrote a book called College Prep Genius.
She is the resident expert on the SAT and ACT which are important for college entrance and more importantly, scholarships. She has been on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, and so many more television and radio shows. I’ve interviewed her several times and she is the walking, talking test prep genius.
Not only did I interview her, but I offered her a podcast on my network. Why? Because she was the perfect fit and her topic is high interest to my audience. So you know, a lot has been made about a pitch and I’m going to go through that in more detail at some point in another podcast. But I just want to give you a very short example of that, but before I do, I want you to be thinking about this and I’m going to ask you more questions.
More Questions!
- Do you “know” the person that is going to be interviewing you in the sense of you’ve listened to their show, you follow them on social media and remember the secret sauce connection?
- Is your message a good fit for the person’s show? I can’t tell you the number of times people contact me and they’re not a good fit.
- Is your message a message that’s not a sales pitch for your product or service. I received something recently from a lady and it was all about selling her book. I really wanted to interview this person, so I went the extra mile and explained to her I needed the “concept” of her product to talk about, not the product itself. She came back with really good information
If you answer these questions and you’ve answered them in a way that is giving to others, then we’re ready for the pitch. The first point is to keep it short. Again, I’ll go into this in detail on another podcast.
KEEP it SIMPLE:
You’re going to keep it simple because you have to grab the person’s attention. Remember your goal and sum it up in a sentence or two at the most, and be sure to tailor the pitch to the person. Know who is receiving your pitch and also what’s in it for me, and I don’t mean me in the sense of you,
I mean me in the sense of the person that you want to interview you, they are going to look at it and say, “Gosh, this is a great fit for my audience.” Be sure to do your research!
After you write your pitch, read it aloud. Keep it short, maybe four 50 to 600 words at the most, and if you’re going to send that in an email or if you’re talking to somebody, keep it to about 60 seconds. Really fine-tune your message because that is so important.
Eventually one of the goals of this platform is to monetize it, to make money, but friends this can’t be the main point. After a couple of years I was able to build my platform to have sponsors contact me. But, this wasn’t immediate so in the meantime
Now I have sponsorships, I have nothing against making money because it helps pay the bills–but the people I know that think podcasting is all about making dollars right off the bat are the ones that struggle.
Connect with me, and be sure to share this podcast and leave me a star rating on your favorite app!
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