#036: How I Get High-Profile Guests on My Community Podcast

They say all politics are local. I say all podcasting is local.

Over the past 4 years I've had the honor of welcoming hundreds of guests onto my podcasts and having conversations with people I'd never dreamed I'd meet.

In this episode: I'll talk about what it takes to book a high-profile podcast guest, what I've done in the past and how I confidently pitch any guest.

📌 Shop the Newest Edition to the Podcasts for Profit Template Collection:
Podcast Pitch Template

👋🏽 Let's connect! You can find me on LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Threads, and TikTok.

Creators and Guests

Host

Morgan Franklin

Morgan Franklin is a podcast producer, strategist and educator. Since 2020 Morgan has founded and produced multiple top ranking podcasts from the health industry to beauty. Featured everywhere from Good Morning America to Martha Stewart Living Morgan's passion and knowledge for branding and podcasting have helped countless business owners and brands grow their impact and bottom line podcasting. Morgan is the Founder of Podcasts for Profit and Morgan Franklin Media, in addition to host of Podcasts for Profit with Morgan Franklin.

What is Podcasts for Profit with Morgan Franklin | Podcasting Strategy for Podcasters?

If you’re ready to create a podcast that will align you with experts in your industry, position yourself as a trusted leader and create another source of revenue for your business you’re in the right place. Podcasts for Profit will help you create and grow a podcast that cuts through the noise of social media and speak directly to your target audience. Stop letting the algorithm determine your social marketing strategy. Stop letting trends dictate the kind of content you’re able to create. Hosted by expert podcast strategist, producer and educator: Morgan Franklin, Podcasts for Profit is your step-by-step guide to creating a podcast that will transform your business, opportunities and life.

Morgan Franklin: Have you ever
heard that saying that all

politics are local? Well, I have
a new saying for you, and that

saying is, all podcasting is
local. If you know anything

about my backstory in
podcasting, in spring of 2021 I

launched my first podcast. It
was a local, community based

podcast in my hometown in
Tennessee, I had no idea what I

was doing, other than we had to
make this thing work. And since

2021 I've had politicians,
reality TV stars, CEOs,

journalists, influencers,
inventors and a long list of

incredible guests that I had no
business coming on my podcast.

And in this episode, I'm gonna
tell you how I did it. Hello and

welcome to podcast for profit.
My name is Morgan Franklin. I'm

a Podcast Producer, strategist
and educator. This podcast will

help you create and grow a
podcast that cuts through the

noise of social media and speaks
directly to your target

audience. If you're ready to
create a podcast that will align

you with the experts in your
industry, position yourself as a

trusted leader and create
another source of revenue for

your business, you're in the
right place. I'll talk about

this a little bit more
throughout the episode, but in

conjunction with this episode, I
have launched my podcast pitch

template. I swore that I would
never, ever, ever sell this

template because it is simply
too good and I wanted to keep it

for myself. But this is the
template that I have been using

and perfecting and turning cold
outreach into guests for years,

and I know it is going to change
your podcast. You can shop the

template in the link, in the
episode description. For a

little bit of context of this
story, I'm not really a huge

bachelor or bachelorette fan in
general. I just don't really

like reality TV that much. I
don't know why, because I'm

exactly the kind of yappy girls
night loving 30 year old that

would normally love this kind of
TV, but yeah, I could just never

really get into it. However, as
I said, the girls night loving

gal I am, my roommate at the
time, was a full fledged card

carrying member of bachelor
nation. Every Monday night there

was a gaggle of girls with pizza
and wine and fuzzy socks ready

to watch the drama unfold. And
because I'm no party pooper, and

if there's fun to be had,
especially if it's at my house,

I'm gonna be having it. So here
I come every Monday night to

join the unholy trinity of group
dates, Chris Harrison and those

rose Boone ears that
mysteriously stick onto fabric.

As I was told every single
season before this season

promised to be the most dramatic
and insane and unbelievable, yet

you are just not going to
believe what happens. This has

never happened in the history of
bachelor nation. I promise that

I'm not going to make you listen
to the entire breakdown of the

one season that I watched all
the way through, but just know

that I was as invested as any
other red blooded American

suburban mom, and I still
reminisce with my former

roommate about how this might
have actually been the craziest

thing to ever happen in bachelor
nation. This was in 2019 and

spoiler alert, and if you might
not remember, but a lot happened

between 2019 and 2021 and during
this time of me becoming a

Podcast Producer and completely
turning my life upside down,

someone else was also turning
their entire life upside down.

The villain of that season of
The Bachelor that I watched with

my roommate. Yes, Not only had
he moved on from the show, he

had moved to my home town.
Crazy. I know I had no idea.

It's those crazy glitch in the
Matrix, things that happen like

this that make me question if we
do live in a simulation or not,

because, like, tell me why this
reality TV star that even I knew

about was moving to hokey poke
Tennessee. And of course, the

answer is because my hometown is
also the hometown of CrossFit

champion Rich Froning, but it's
still pretty crazy. Right on The

Bachelorette, this guy was
chewed up and spit out. He was

maybe the most hated person to
ever come out of the show. And

you know what? Maybe he was that
thing that had never happened in

the history of bachelor nation.
So my wheels are turning. It's

spring of 2022, by this point,
and I've been producing this

podcast for about a year. We're
doing well. We're getting some

important people from around
town. People are starting to

listen to episodes without me
personally begging them to

listen. And yeah, overall,
things are going pretty well,

right? But. Once the information
comes out that this guy has

moved to town, I am all over it.
I know we have to have him on

the podcast, but how are we
going to get him on the podcast?

More importantly, how are we
going to get him to talk about

the bachelorette on the podcast?
Because it's pretty clear that

he's moving on. And you know,
that's understandably so. So

let's get into how we make this
happen. The first thing that

you're going to have to do when
you want to invite somebody that

is out of your league onto your
podcast, which, by the way, I

hope that this is what you are
always doing. There is no reason

that you are staying in your
comfort zone and inviting boring

guests. And if you are Stop it,
if you are schedule a

consultation with me, and I'm
going to help you move past it,

because step one is research. Do
your research. What are they

doing? What is the person doing
that you want to have on your

podcast? What are they
promoting? What direction does

it seem like their brand is
going in, and how can you help

them to go in that direction
even more effectively? And let

me just remind you, this is
where brand clarity and

direction on your own podcast
really comes into play, because

it's very hard to make a promise
to a guest on how you're going

to help them with their image,
or help their branding, or help

them rebrand by being on your
show when you don't even know

what your own show is trying to
accomplish. Know why you want

them to be on your show and what
you're going to tell them

specifically about why you want
them to come on the show and why

you like them, why you think
that they are the person to come

on and talk about this. Because
let me tell you, flattery works.

Compliments work, and I think
that they are so often

overlooked. Give someone a
compliment, tell them genuinely

why you want them to come on
your podcast. The second thing

is, you have to look the part.
This is where the podcast pitch

template I was talking about
earlier comes in. But I send

every guest a beautifully
designed, curated PDF that looks

like a million bucks. It looks
like you're working with the

most high end professional
podcast out there, and that is

what I want them to think.
That's what I want them to know.

It answers the questions before
they have the time to ask them,

and if you do it right, it's
gonna seal the deal for you.

Okay, so getting back to the
story. So I know about this guy,

I want him on my podcast. I'm
doing my research. I find out

why he came to my hometown, what
the rebrand from reality TV is

really looking like for him, and
I craft a pitch that is so

beautiful that is for him, where
we say, hey, we can help you

accomplish all of the things,
and we would love to have you on

the podcast. And I'm not lying
to you when I tell you, this was

one of the fastest responses
that I have ever got from a

guest pitch before I was I was
on top of the world. I was so

impressed. He told me that he
would love to come on the show.

Now I wish that I could tell you
this is where the story ends,

but really, this is just where I
get started, because this is not

where the story ends. And
something that I'm going to

personally warn you about is
that the higher up on the totem

pole you go with booking people,
the more gatekeepers and

appointments people you are
going to have to work with. The

first exchange for this podcast
interview happened in April. It

took until July to get him on
the podcast. It also took about

half a dozen unanswered emails,
a voicemail, and finally, asking

a friend of a friend of a friend
if he could remind him about the

podcast. And I do want to say
for the record, if anyone has

pieced together who this is, he
was an incredibly kind person.

He actually found out that the
host of this podcast had some

family that lived in Ukraine,
and he was wearing a support

Ukraine t shirt to the
interview, he seemed like a very

personable and thoughtful man,
and he recently, actually just

got married and had his first
child, and he still lives in my

hometown, and I just could not
be happier for his family. So if

you do know who it is, I think
that things turned out okay.

Another thing that I want to
mention is And speaking of

reality TV stars, around the
same time, we got to interview

the winner of the voice for
season 17, and he told me after

the recording that the questions
were the most thoughtful and

well researched questions that
he had ever had. And I mean,

this man had just came from
being on Kelly Clarkson's show

the day before, you better be
writing the best questions that

these people have ever seen.
Because another thing that is

going to happen is their people
are going to press you. They're

going to say, okay, okay, well,
maybe send over a list of

questions. And basically, we'll
think about it. We'll think if

we want to give you an
appointment, and that's when you

better have the questions that
they have never. Answered on air

before, and is that going to
take work? Yes, is it going to

take time? Yes, you have no idea
how many interviews, podcasts,

articles that I've read from
people so that I can have unique

questions that they have never
been asked before, but I will

say almost every single guest
that I have on any of my shows

always says, Oh my gosh, I've
never got questions like this

before. So put in the effort.
Because you know, if that fan

who has no idea who you are is
coming to listen to this episode

and you're asking them the same
crap that everyone else is that

is an instant skip versus them
falling in love with you. The

old saying is, they come for the
guest, but they stay for the

host, so leave them something to
stay with. Another thing is, and

I know that you're gonna be so
excited, especially if you

booked a guest that could be a
really big deal for your

podcast, you have to limit the
amount that you are talking

about yourself again. People
came for the guest. They did not

come for you. The best thing
that you can do is focus on

giving the best experience to
that guest and their fans, with

the hope that you pick up a few
listeners from their audience.

Going back to the gatekeepers
for just a minute, though, the

more important somebody is,
oftentimes, the more gatekeepers

that you're going to have to go
through to get to them, the more

that they're going to give you
the runaround on booking the

dates and when the person is
available and XYZ. Keep going,

keep emailing. We just had a
senator on this same podcast,

and it took me from July to
November to get this recording.

Keep going, keep messaging. And
eventually, most of the time, if

they think it's a value, it is
going to happen. But how do you

make sure it's of value? How can
you guarantee that this guest

being on your podcast will
provide value for them? Well,

you can't really, but what you
can do is know your audience,

know who is listening to your
podcast and why, and also, like

I said earlier, all podcasting
is local. Know your local

community or know your community
in your industry, weak

connections are everything in
life and in podcasting. Make

sure that when you're talking to
people, especially when you're

networking with people in your
industry, you're asking, Hey, do

you know anyone that would be
great for my podcast? I know

that my host gets sick of me
because I am just reminding them

over and over and over, when
you're finished with this

episode, don't let them walk out
the door or sign off before you

ask them, Do you know anyone
else that would be good for this

podcast, because great guests
know great guests. So utilize

your network. Make sure that the
people around you know what kind

of guests you're interested in,
and let them know who you are

looking for. Do your research,
look the part. Then when the

time comes, be the part. If you
want to shop my podcast pitch

template, it will be in the
episode description. This is the

exact template that I have sent
to secure over 400 guests. And

also I just want to say I have
received a lot of podcast

pitches as a producer, and I
have never seen anything like

this. One more thing before we
go, I just want to give you the

permission to pursue the guests
that you want to have on your

show. I know that this can be
really intimidating and make you

question a lot of things about
yourself and your podcast and

whether you are worth having
this kind of guest on. And I

have been very, very fortunate
to have people around me, both

professionally and personally,
that always encourage me and

cheer me on and tell me that no
matter how crazy it is, that

just to go for it. And I want
you to know that you are worthy,

and you are capable of doing
anything and everything that you

put your mind to, keep going,
keep pursuing what you want,

keep sending that follow up
email, and as always, I can't

wait to listen to your podcast.
Hey, thank you so much for

joining me on this episode. If
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