I've found podcast guesting to be one of the best avenues for getting what I build in front of the right people. A post gets a moment of someone's attention. An episode gets half an hour of it, from people who chose to listen, and it keeps working after the recording ends.

Here's what one appearance does, from what I've seen in my own.

The host's questions do your customer discovery

A good host asks the questions their listeners would ask. Over the course of an episode you hear which parts of your story people lean in to, which ones they push back on and which ones they don't get. That's customer discovery, the kind you'd otherwise have to set up interviews for, and the host has done the recruiting.

Listen back to the episode and write those questions down. They're your FAQ, your next posts and the gaps in how you explain what you do.

The audience owns the problem

When I post on LinkedIn, plenty of the people reading are other builders. They're good company, but most of them aren't going to use what I've built. A niche show's listeners are the actual owners of the problem: the founder, the practitioner, the person who'd pay to make it go away.

That's why fit matters more than download numbers. A small show whose audience has your problem is worth more than a big one whose audience doesn't.

Appearances often earn high-trust backlinks. The show notes on the host's website usually link to you, and that's a link from an established site in your field, the kind that's hard to earn any other way.

The episode itself lives online indefinitely: on the show's website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and often YouTube. People keep finding it through search and through the show's back catalogue long after a post has scrolled away.

Traffic and sign-ups afterwards

After an appearance, I see upticks in website traffic and in sign-ups to my newsletter and the platforms I promote. That makes sense: someone who has just heard you talk for half an hour arrives already knowing who you are and why your work matters to them.

How to get more from each appearance

  • Give listeners one address to remember. A short, easy URL works better than a list of links read out at the end. A page made for listeners works best of all.
  • Ask for a link in the show notes. Most hosts are happy to add one. Send the exact address you want, so it isn't left out or mistyped.
  • Share the episode when it goes out. Tag the host and the show. It helps them, and hosts remember the guests who help them.
  • Keep the questions you were asked. They tell you what people want to know, in their own words.

Finding the shows that fit

Each of these payoffs depends on the show fitting you: an audience that has the problem you solve, a host who interviews guests, and a show that's still publishing. That's what CastGhost checks before you pitch. It reads each show's recent episodes to see that your subject comes up, finds how to reach the host, and drafts a pitch from your own material for you to send from your own Gmail.

Setting up your profile and finding shows are free. You pay $2 when a pitch is drafted, and your credit never expires. See Pricing.