---
aliases: ["Podcast Guest Outreach"]
Is A: Procedure
Belongs to: "[[responsibility-podcast]]"
Cadence: Monthly
Owner: "[[person-luca-rossi]]"
---
# Podcast Guest Outreach

A podcast is only as good as its guest pipeline. This monthly outreach procedure ensures there is always a 3-month booking horizon of confirmed guests, preventing the scramble of last-minute scheduling that leads to weaker episodes. Systematic outreach also allows for intentional curation — building a guest roster that serves the audience rather than just filling slots. See [[what-makes-a-good-podcast-guest]] for the selection criteria that guide this process.

## Steps

- [ ] Review the current guest pipeline: how many confirmed bookings exist for the next 3 months? Identify gaps.
- [ ] Brainstorm 8-10 potential guests based on current content themes, audience interests, and topics that performed well in [[procedure-podcast-analytics]]
- [ ] Vet each candidate against the criteria in [[what-makes-a-good-podcast-guest]]: expertise, storytelling ability, audience relevance, and willingness to promote
- [ ] Select the top 5 candidates and research each one: read their recent work, listen to their other podcast appearances, identify unique angles
- [ ] Draft personalized outreach emails for each candidate — reference specific work of theirs and explain why the conversation would be valuable for both audiences
- [ ] Send outreach emails and log each contact in the guest tracking spreadsheet with date sent and status
- [ ] Follow up on any outstanding outreach from the previous month that has not received a response (one follow-up, then move on)
- [ ] For confirmed guests, send a scheduling link and the pre-recording brief within 48 hours of confirmation
- [ ] Update the 3-month booking calendar and share it with [[person-paco-furiani]] for production planning

## Notes

- Quality over quantity. Five well-researched, personalized outreach emails outperform twenty generic ones. Guests can tell when you have done your homework, and it sets the tone for the entire relationship.
- Maintain a "dream guest" list of 10-15 people you would love to have on the show. Even if they are out of reach today, revisit the list as the show grows — audience size and reputation compound.
- The best guest leads often come from existing guests. At the end of every recording, ask: "Who else should I talk to about this topic?" This warm introduction path has a much higher conversion rate than cold outreach.
- Balance the guest roster across expertise areas and demographics. A podcast that only features one type of guest gets predictable fast.
- Track outreach response rate over time. If it drops below 30%, revisit the outreach template, the show's positioning, or whether the target guests are too far above the show's current reach.
