- Podcasts interviews are a great way
to expand your reach and sell a few books.
But if you're not prepared for that interview,
the host may never air it,
and they certainly won't have you back,
or worse, they air it, and it damages your reputation
just a little,
because you didn't sound like a prepared professional.
Don't want that to happen to you?
Well then this video and the five tips I have for you
to prepare for a podcast interview to promote your book
is absolutely for you.
(upbeat music)
Hey, there I'm Julie, the Book Broad from Book Launchers,
we're your professional self-publishing team,
helping you write, publish, and promote
a nonfiction book that will help you
have a huge impact on your readers,
and done right, will help you grow your brand,
build your business and make you money.
The best part? You keep all rights and royalties.
We work with our authors to promote their books,
and one media that always works
into a book promotion plan is podcasts.
At the end of the video,
I'm gonna link to a couple of other videos
to help you land podcasts
and build them into your marketing plan.
But today, I wanna help you prepare
for those podcast interviews.
I've done more than a hundred podcast interviews myself,
and I'm gonna be getting ready to do a whole bunch more
when my new book comes out.
Straight up, some interviewers are just not that good.
And no amount of preparation is going to help you
overcome a bad interviewer.
But if you've done a good job of screening your interviewers
and showing up prepared, you'll find podcast interviews
can be a ton of fun.
But, you're not just doing this to have fun (laughs),
you're also doing this to promote your book
and expand your reach.
Here are my five best tips
for making the most of every podcast interview you land.
Number one, before you are on any podcast,
listen to one or two episodes.
When I first started doing podcast interviews,
I did this, and it made a huge difference,
because I could comment on past episodes,
I knew the format, and I was prepared for oddball questions.
After I had done about 40 podcast interviews or so,
and at the time I was doing four to eight a month,
I started to run out of time and energy,
and a little bit of commitment to being prepared.
Most of the time, not being fully prepared worked out okay,
but, there were a few times where a host was very unhappy
I hadn't listened to their show beforehand.
Sometimes you get asked, and I wasn't gonna lie,
so I lost rapport with a few, and I could feel it.
And in a few cases, I was not warned
about a curve ball question
that the host does on every episode.
If I'd listened, I would have known that,
because a lot have signature questions
that they ask all their guests,
and sometimes it's out of left field,
like, "Tell your 10-year-old self
about the biggest mistake you've made,
and why they should still make that mistake."
Or, "If you were gonna start a business today
with only $100, what would you do?"
Or my personal nemesis,
"What's something about you that nobody knows."
Here's the thing, nobody knows it
because I didn't want them to (laughs),
so how do you answer that question?
You need answers for these curve balls,
so if you don't like surprises,
and you wanna set yourself up for smooth success,
listen to episodes before you go on the show.
Number two, before the interview,
find out if it will be video plus audio, or just audio.
If it's video, is that for recording to be posted
or just for rapport with the host?
If it's video for any reason,
make sure you can hard wire your computer into the internet,
because you do not want your interview not airing
just because the sound was off
or your internet cut off.
And make sure you've got good lighting for video.
Basically, everything we talk about in doing virtual events,
that video, do that.
And it goes without saying,
you need a decent mic for these interviews,
so buy a headset or a low cost microphone
to plug into your computer to get the best audio.
A good mic goes a long way to improving your sound quality
and sounding more like a professional.
Number three, use notecards.
Put the host's name, the podcast name,
the topic of the call,
what they call their audience,
like Team Flynn, bosses, Fire Nation,
and basically any other notes you have
from your research on that podcast,
and put it in front of you.
There may come a time where you forget those details
in the middle of the interview,
and having them in front of you will save you
from making an embarrassing mistake.
Number four, have talking points.
You are the expert, be prepared to sound like one.
Usually, you'll be asked for a few questions
that you want to be asked during this interview.
That's your opportunity to seed something
where you can showcase the hook of your book
and get asked a few questions
that will help you tease the content in your book.
So I like to highlight the fact
that whatever they're asking is a big subject,
and it's a big part of what's in my book,
but then I make sure to give something of high value,
some really great tips,
some great steps, or an acronym,
or something else that will truly help the audience.
You're never gonna sell books
if you aren't delivering massive value
in a short period of time.
You can also have on hand a handful of high value quotes.
Those are what I would call soundbites.
And if you're not sure what would be a good sound bite,
check out what has been bolded in your book,
and make a list, and put that in front of you.
Here's a hint,
if an interviewer sends you a list of questions in advance,
don't script out your answers.
Review them, think about key points you'll make,
but your real goal is to create a connection with your host,
and you're only gonna do that
if you're having a conversation
and enjoying yourself in that conversation.
Final tip, number five,
when the host asks you at the end
where people can buy your book and connect with you,
keep it oh so simple.
If you're allowed to, send folks to something
that will be of value to do that.
So you might say, "Hey, if you want my seven tips
to sell thousands of books
without spending more than a hundred dollars on marketing,
you can go get my book selling game plan
at booklaunchers.com/gameplan.
When you're over@booklaunchers.com,
you can also buy my book
and connect with me directly right there.
Do not give a zillion ways to connect,
nobody's ever gonna remember that.
Keep it simple, and if you're allowed to,
give them something of high value
to encourage people to sign up for your newsletter list.
I didn't state what I hope is obvious,
but when you do podcast interviews,
podcasts interviews want you
to deliver value to their audience,
and in exchange for that value,
you get the opportunity to share a link at the end.
This episode is not dedicated to your book promotion,
you don't wanna mention your book
over and over and over again.
Tease the content once or twice, and most importantly,
have fun while you're delivering
massive value to their audience.
Oh, and I guess this is an unofficial sixth tip,
but when the podcast comes out, share it!
It gives you content for your social media
and your newsletter, and it supports the podcast as well.
You can even go an extra mile and send a thank you,
because it can go a long way with staying top-of-mind
and getting invited back.
Alright like this video?
Smash that thumbs up button,
go ahead, try it, it feels so good!
And subscribe to the channel,
and turn those notifications on
so you know when new videos are released
every Tuesday and Friday.
Then, in the comments below,
let us know what other tips you have
for preparing for a podcast interview.
If you're a podcaster,
let us know how you like your podcast guests to be prepared.
And when you comment the day of video is released,
you'll be entered to win some sweet Book Launcher swag,
like this mug, #noboringbooks,
or this oh-so-soft journal.
And when you comment, you'll be one step closer
to being one of my beloved YouTube besties,
like Gene Hobbs, Kelly Bonano, Sandra Rodriguez
Andy W., and of course, the one, the only, Kevin Maguire.
Thank you for your likes, comments, and shares,
you guys make my day.
You may now be wondering
how to get podcast interviews in the first place.
Meet our client, Robert Bell,
who did a great job of getting himself booked on podcasts,
and gave you some great advice on that.
So you can check that video out right here.
And, if you get podcast interviews or any other media,
you must leverage it over and over
to maximize the value of that appearance.
To learn how, that video is right here.
Either way it's guaranteed awesomeness, or your money back.
It's free to watch, get it?
Go ahead and click on one of those videos,
and I'll be waiting right there for you.
(upbeat music)