Leveraging Visibility for Growth: How to Use Your VA to Get Booked on Podcasts

Preparation: The Foundation of Success

Like many things in life, taking time to prepare first can make the process more efficient and successful. You can delegate several tasks to your VA as you prepare to pitch to top-producing podcasts.

• Craft a Podcast Pitch Tracker: Empower your VA to research and compile a detailed tracker of potential podcasts that are right for your goals. This tool allows you to review the plans before pitching begins and ensures your VA is pitching the shows looking for experts like you. The tracker may include contact information, social media metrics, and thematic alignment with your brand. Download a free example podcast pitch tracker.

• Personalized Pitch Templates: Like sales outreach messaging, the best pitches are personalized. Starting with a couple of versatile pitch templates can make this process smoother, but each pitch should be customized by mentioning specific episodes or interests of the host.
• Exclusive Offers for Listeners: Develop a compelling offer to entice podcast listeners to engage with you on your website or social media channels. This could range from offering a special discount to providing listeners with free downloadable resources.
• Landing Page Creation: A great way to capture contact information from interested listeners is to create a dedicated landing page, funneling podcast listeners toward your special offer. Your VA may have the skills to create this for you, or they can coordinate with your web team to do it.
• Tailored Research: Ask your VA to listen to selected podcast episodes before pitching. This insight is crucial for personalizing your pitches.
• Calendar Coordination: Grant your VA access to your calendar to manage interview scheduling seamlessly.
• Professional Email Setup: Set up a domain-specific email for your VA with a professional signature, enhancing the credibility of your communications.

Getting Booked: The Art of the Pitch

Now that you know who you want to pitch and what you want to offer listeners, and your VA is armed with templates, let’s get to pitching!

• Personalized Outreach: Using the pitch templates, have your VA contact at least 20 podcast hosts, personalizing each email with references to specific episodes.
• Follow-Up and Scheduling: If a host shows interest, your VA can coordinate introductory meetings and schedule interviews within your availability.
• Pre-Interview Logistics: Podcast hosts usually provide these details in advance but ask your VA to document the technical setup for audio/video and prep any preferred interview questions.

The Interview: Showcasing Your Expertise

When you are making guest appearances on podcasts, you can further leverage this opportunity by creating casual content in the moment and sharing how people can connect with you.

• Social Media Engagement: While in the interview, take a selfie or set up your phone to record a video of yourself in the interview. Share behind-the-scenes content on social media to add a personal touch and increase engagement.
• Promotional Strategy: Share your contact details in the interview and direct listeners to your landing page with the special offer.

Post-Interview: Building Lasting Relationships

When you have a chance to be a guest on a podcast, remember that the host is helping you by telling their audience about you. It can go a long way toward building lasting relationships to show appreciation and ensure you engage with the host following the interview.

• Express Gratitude: To go above and beyond, have your VA send personalized thank-you notes to hosts.
• Engaging with Posts and Mentions: Your VA can monitor and reshare social media posts and mentions.
• Maximizing Exposure: Request clips from the host or ask your VA to excerpt content for further promotion on your channels.
• Keeping Records: Document each appearance for easy reference and update your website’s media page and LinkedIn profile with these links.
• Leveraging Your Network: Besides sharing on social media, share the podcast interview with your email list, perhaps as a feature in your monthly newsletter.

Utilizing a VA in your podcast booking and promotion strategy saves you time and ensures a professional and systematic approach. By following these steps, you can effectively leverage podcasting as a powerful tool to grow your brand and reach new audiences. With your virtual assistant’s help, consistency and quality in your outreach can transform your podcast appearances into a significant growth catalyst for your business.

Want more direction on creating effective pitches? Get PR You Can Delegate to Your VA, our on-demand webinar, to learn from Zilker Media Publicity Director Shelby Janner. 

Amber Gray

Amber Gray is the founder and CEO of Trusty Oak, an Austin-based virtual assistant company providing administrative and marketing support to small business leaders, authors, and creative teams. A people-first approach to hiring, along with a scalable growth model have positioned Trusty Oak as a flexible, dependable, and affordable alternative to hiring administrative and marketing employees. In 2021 and 2022, Trusty Oak was named Freelancer Hiring Platform of the Year, and in 2021 Amber was recognized as Austin Business Woman of the Year.

Before founding Trusty Oak, Amber spent five years at a rapidly growing digital agency based in Austin, TX. Four of those years, she was responsible for hiring and leading both local and virtual teams while working closely with clients ranging from CEOs to bestselling authors to build their brand online. As VP of Operations, Amber helped lead the company’s growth to #15 on Austin Business Journal’s Fast50 List in 2014.

As a female founder and leader of a company that has quickly established a recognizably special culture within a non-traditional workforce, Amber has energized and empowered women from diverse professional and personal backgrounds to go against the grain of historically standard female roles in business, technology, and leadership. Trusty Oak provides an opportunity for experienced admin and marketing professionals to work independently as freelancers, but with a supportive internal network consisting of other ambitious and resourceful remote workers.

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