A lot of podcast pitches lose me in the first line. The guest might be brilliant. The topic might be good. But the pitch talks about the guest, the book and the launch, and never once about the people who listen to the show.
I've sat on a few sides of this. I host the Marketing Leadership Podcast. I led marketing at Content Allies, a content and podcast agency, and I co-founded Listen Network, where podcast advertising was the whole business. So I've seen podcasting as a host, as a seller and as someone buying attention. The pattern keeps showing up: the shows and guests that win start with the audience, not the microphone.
That's why I wanted Jessica Rhodes on the show. Jessica is the founder of Interview Connections, and her take on podcast guesting stuck with me because it flips the usual question. Most people ask, "Which big shows can I get on?" Jessica asks, "Who do you want to reach, and are they listening?"
The audience is the strategy
Here's where podcast guesting usually goes wrong. Someone decides they want to be on podcasts. They build a list of the biggest shows in their space, send the same pitch to all of them and count the bookings. A few months later they have a stack of episodes, some nice comments and no new conversations with buyers.
Jessica's starting point is different. Define your ideal client first, then let that decide which shows you go after. It sounds obvious, and most people still skip it. A show with a smaller audience full of your buyers will do more for your pipeline than a famous show where your buyer is one listener in a thousand.
If I were starting a guesting plan tomorrow, I'd write two or three sentences about the person I want to reach before I opened a single podcast app. What do they care about this quarter? What problem are they trying to solve? Then I'd check every show against that description. If I can't picture my buyer listening to the last three episodes, the show comes off the list, no matter how big it is.
The same rule applies when you're the host. Decide who the show is for, then invite guests who can help that audience. A guest should bring a point of view your listeners need. A big name alone won't carry an episode.
I'd also change what I count. Bookings and downloads are easy to report and tell you very little. The number I'd watch is conversations: how many people reached out, booked a call or replied to a follow-up after hearing the episode. A show that sends you three of those was worth more than a big one that sent none.
Pick the format that fits the job
Jessica also made a distinction I don't hear enough. Interview shows and solo shows do different jobs. Interviews help you grow a network and reach new audiences, because every guest brings their own circle with them. Solo episodes work well for nurturing an audience you already have, but they depend on strong delivery. Holding attention alone for thirty minutes is a skill, and not every host has it yet.
She pointed to one more format that gets overlooked: interviewing your own customers. A customer explaining, in their own words, what changed for them builds trust in a way a case study PDF rarely does. The trick is to make the episode useful for the listener first. Ask about the problem they had, what they learned and what changed. Keep the sales pitch out of it, and the conversation does the selling for you.
Prep calls and the pitch
Then there's the prep call, which Jessica called a "great divide" in podcasting. Some hosts insist on one. Others skip it entirely. A prep call helps a host spot serious guests and plan a better conversation, but it's hard to scale when you're recording every week.
Her advice to guests was to stay agile and adapt to each host. I'd go one step further and treat the prep call as part of the pitch. Show up knowing the audience, with two or three angles that would help them, and you've made the host's job easier before anyone hits record.
The pitch itself works the same way. Jessica stressed personal, transparent outreach, plus a one-pager with all your details in one place so the host doesn't have to chase anything. A generic pitch asks the host to work out the fit. A good pitch does that work for them: why this topic suits this audience, what you'll bring and what the host needs to know. That's the difference between a reply and a delete.
The episode is the start, not the finish
The last part of our conversation covers the step most guests skip. The value of a guest spot doesn't end when the recording stops. Jessica talked about guests sharing the episode and building real rapport with the host, so the relationship works for both sides.
From the host's seat, I can tell you this matters. A guest who shares the episode with their network brings new listeners to the show. A guest who disappears after recording leaves the host doing all the promotion. Guess which one gets invited back, or recommended to other hosts.
As the guest, decide what you want a listener to do next before you record. Good marketing pairs useful content with a clear ask. If someone loves what you said and has nowhere to go, the appearance was pleasant and nothing more. Give them one step: a resource, a newsletter, a page on your site.
Podcast guesting rewards fit over volume. Pick the shows your buyers listen to, pitch like you've done your homework, and treat the host like a partner before and after the episode. Do that, and a handful of well-matched appearances will beat fifty random ones.
Want the full conversation? Listen to my episode with Jessica Rhodes, Founder of Interview Connections, where we get into podcast goals, guest selection, prep calls and how to make guesting work for both the host and the guest.
