How to Pitch Yourself as a Podcast Guest

Larry Roberts [00:00:09]:

What is happening, everybody? I'm Larry Roberts.

Sara Lohse [00:00:12]:

And I'm Sara Lohse. And this is Branded, your comprehensive guide to creative branding.

Larry Roberts [00:00:16]:

And on this episode of the podcast, we have a co host.

Sara Lohse [00:00:23]:

Hi, Sophie.

Larry Roberts [00:00:24]:

Her name is Sophie. She's my little teacup. She used to be teacup. Now I think she's like one of those oversized coffee mugs. Chihuahua. Sophie is eleven, and for some reason today she's being super high maintenance. Like, her anxiety is just kind of off the charts and she just wants to be held. So Sophie's going to join us for this episode of the podcast.

Larry Roberts [00:00:46]:

Hopefully that's cool with everybody.

Sara Lohse [00:00:48]:

Can I, can I go get Kevin and just hold him?

Larry Roberts [00:00:52]:

I would like to see that. That would be interesting because 70 pound pit bull. Yeah. Kevin weighs like a million and he would eat Sophie in one bite.

Sara Lohse [00:00:59]:

I actually, I brought them to the vet yesterday, and Kevin, Kevin lost three pounds and Harvey gained ten. And I don't know what's going on.

Larry Roberts [00:01:05]:

Harvey eating all of Kevin's food is what's going on. I'll tell you that. Yeah, yeah. Because it's, it's funny because Sophie doesn't get down and roam around much on her own these days because she's, like I said, she's a little older and with, with. Oh, God, where'd he go?

Sara Lohse [00:01:23]:

Oh, God, where's Opie?

Larry Roberts [00:01:25]:

With, with Opie in the house now. And he's, we'll say 13 weeks old. Well, he's about 13. He's just, dude, I've, I've never seen a dog with this much energy, this thing. And I mean, I know puppies have energy, but no, you don't get it. You don't, you don't effing get it, I promise you. Because this cat, he hits a gear that is just next. He just, it's like, it's like a pinball machine and he's the ball, but it's like on steroids.

Larry Roberts [00:01:56]:

I mean, he is just literally everywhere and he does not stop for like 3 hours. And he's bouncing and jumping and springing and stepping and running and Johnny, dude, it's in freak. It's the most ins. I've had a lot of dogs in my time. This cat right here, and I, I don't know what he's chewing on, but he's chewing on something here in the studio. Looks like it's just one of my bags, which is cool. But, dude, it's, it's just the next level. So, um, I can't put soapy down because he will just irritate the all, uh, you know, the daylights out of her.

Larry Roberts [00:02:23]:

I. So I got. I gotta hold Sophie. So that's why we have a bonus guest with us today.

Sara Lohse [00:02:28]:

We're good with it. Hey, Sophie, how do you feel about branding? Great ideas. Great ideas.

Larry Roberts [00:02:35]:

I think she snorted a little bit.

Sara Lohse [00:02:36]:

She's like, no, that's, you know, I. It's a great insight. It's great. Insane.

Larry Roberts [00:02:40]:

She snorted a little bit, so. But anyways, here we are, man. With this episode, we are a week removed from babs, or, for those that aren't, initiated the badass business summit. And at said summit, Sarah gave a talk on how to pitch to be on a podcast. And we thought that'd be a great episode. So we're going to be talking about how to position yourself and how to pitch yourself to get on podcast. And not just any podcast, but a podcast that will. Did you hear the way I said that podcast plot?

Sara Lohse [00:03:16]:

It's your podcast.

Larry Roberts [00:03:18]:

It's a podcast. But. So how you would get on a podcast that would complement your brand and really do something to help you boost your brand? So this one's going to be primarily Sarah with me kind of heckling a little bit. So we're going to see how it goes.

Sara Lohse [00:03:34]:

It doesn't have to be just me. You do this, too?

Larry Roberts [00:03:38]:

No, 100%. Hundred percent.

Sara Lohse [00:03:39]:

It's funny because we actually, you and I, every week or so, we go through the list of pitches that we get for branded.

Larry Roberts [00:03:48]:

Yeah.

Sara Lohse [00:03:49]:

And those. A lot of those, no offense, if y'all are listening, which you're probably not based on what you pitched us. Um, a lot of those are like, examples I used at. In my presentation at Babs because they're just so, so bad.

Larry Roberts [00:04:03]:

Yeah, I saw the f word forming on your lips right there, so we'll let that slide. But, uh, they. They are. They're rough.

Sara Lohse [00:04:09]:

Never curse in front of Sophie.

Larry Roberts [00:04:10]:

Oh, well, that's. She appreciates that. Look at her. She's looks. Now that I'm holding her, now that I'm holding her, she can barely hold her eyes open. She's just. But if I put her down, she's going to go ballistic. So anyways, so, yeah, we do.

Larry Roberts [00:04:23]:

We go through the pitches that we get on pod match. Cause we are avid pod match users. Once again, the Alex Sanfilippo fan club. We are the foundation of said fan club. But it's amazing to see some of the pitches that we get on there.

Sara Lohse [00:04:38]:

We got one that just said, hey, y'all, this ain't AOL instant messenger.

Larry Roberts [00:04:46]:

Yeah, yeah. Asl. Asl, please.

Sara Lohse [00:04:50]:

So bad. But I actually. It's interesting because just yesterday I was talking to one of my clients, and he asked me, like, I need to come up with a standard pitch I can send to podcasts. And I'm like, no, you don't. He's like, no, you don't know, like, for, like, pod match and stuff. Just a standard one that I can just send that's tells them who I am and about me. No, you don't, because we don't care who you are. We don't care about you.

Sara Lohse [00:05:20]:

And I feel bad saying this because it sounds really rude and it sounds really mean.

Larry Roberts [00:05:26]:

It's always slightly aggressive.

Sara Lohse [00:05:27]:

Yeah. But it's the only way I can say it honestly, because it's so true. And that's what, like, at babs, I talk about this, and I know I'm just gonna. No one's gonna like me there. Everyone's gonna be like, this bitch. But it's. We don't like you. And I go through dozens of pitches, and if all you're telling us is about you, we just go right past it.

Sara Lohse [00:05:51]:

Because it's so true that we don't care who you are. And that's not to say, like, once we bring you on the show, we don't want to hear about you and your stories. We 100% do. But that's not what we're looking for from a pitch.

Larry Roberts [00:06:07]:

Sure.

Sara Lohse [00:06:07]:

And I can confidently say all their shows are the same, and I quote him all the time. But Joe Salci, high stacking Benjamin, he said in one of his keynotes at Fincon, the only responsibility you have as a podcast host is to your listeners. And I bring that up because when we're reading pitches, we're reading them from, like, what is going to have the most value for our listeners? We aren't like, okay, what's going to get us the best sob story? Or what's going to put you, like, this guest, on the highest pedestal? Like, that's not what we care about.

Larry Roberts [00:06:42]:

Right.

Sara Lohse [00:06:42]:

What. What is going to benefit our guests? So what we're looking for in these pitches is the answer to that question. And it's so rare that we get that.

Larry Roberts [00:06:52]:

Yeah. And if you have a brand, that brand ideally has a value proposition attached to it. So when you're trying to get on podcasts to grow your business, grow your brand, and grow your thought leadership, then why would you not lead with that value proposition?

Sara Lohse [00:07:09]:

People think, like, I even I had a meeting with somebody. She's missing the conference. So she wanted to kind of pick my brain about what I'll be talking about. And she's like, can I pitch to you? And you tell me if you would let me on your show. And I said, sure. This is not, this isn't putting me on the spot at all.

Larry Roberts [00:07:26]:

Yeah. Right, right.

Sara Lohse [00:07:27]:

All right, all right. Are you prepared to get your feelings hurt? And she gives me her pitch, and it's a beautiful story about what she's been through. And I felt bad, but I had to be like, no, if that was your pitch, I wouldn't put you on my show. And it sounds kind of like, what's the, like, pretentious, I guess.

Larry Roberts [00:07:49]:

Arrogant.

Sara Lohse [00:07:50]:

Yeah. And it really does.

Larry Roberts [00:07:52]:

Bitchy.

Sara Lohse [00:07:53]:

I know I'm sounding like I'm a. I'm a nice person, people. I am a nice person. I promise I'm not coming off like it. But we'll hear your story on the show. But I want to know what the value in that story is that my audience is going to hear and walk away with something that they can do.

Larry Roberts [00:08:13]:

Right.

Sara Lohse [00:08:13]:

And I don't need to hear your story to know that. And if you're. If I'm going through this list of like dozens, and it's a really long story, I'm sorry, but I'm not reading that whole thing. I'm skimming.

Larry Roberts [00:08:26]:

There's nothing worse than a wall o text, right? Right. We click on the profile, we click on the opportunity. They've reached out. They said, hey, I'd love to be a guest on your podcast. And you look at it and it's literally just a wall o text. And.

Sara Lohse [00:08:40]:

And it's all about them.

Larry Roberts [00:08:42]:

Yeah. And I don't even know what it's about because I always click off. I just, I just, I jump ship right away.

Sara Lohse [00:08:48]:

Yeah. One of, one of the examples I use in that presentation, if anyone wants the slides, just shoot me a message or an email. But one of the examples I use is one that is a wall of text. And I put it up and I say, what's wrong with this pitch? And I don't know what their answers are going to be, but my answer is, I have no idea because I didn't read it because it was just too long.

Larry Roberts [00:09:08]:

Right, right.

Sara Lohse [00:09:09]:

And I feel like there's a few things that people think they need to put in a pitch to a podcast, and it's like their, everything they would talk about, like, their whole story, everything they've accomplished, their whole resume, people put their follower counts, which I feel is a little, like, weird?

Larry Roberts [00:09:28]:

Well, I mean, there's some pre programming that goes with that, you know, because a lot of times they think that if you don't have an audience, then people aren't going to want to have you on their show. But in all honesty, the vast majority of podcasts that are out there, their audience looks very, very similar to yours. So that the whole Instagram following and Facebook follow all that, not really all that relevant, in all honesty. It's. What's the value that you can provide?

Sara Lohse [00:09:54]:

Yeah, I mean, there's been shows that I produce that will have big name guests, and it does fine. We have a no name guests with a really great story, and it blows up because it's about the content. There's all these things that people put in it, and it's all, I have done this and this, and I've accomplished this, and I've managed to bring to do this in my business, and that's all really great for you, but what does that mean for me? What does that mean for my listeners? Are you just going to get on my show and just brag about what you've done, or are you going to teach my listeners to recreate something that you've done? That's.

Larry Roberts [00:10:27]:

How can they achieve the same level of. Of expertise that you potentially have in this niche.

Sara Lohse [00:10:34]:

Exactly. And there's like, a few things, like don't include your resume. Don't include your sob story or whatever your story is. We'll hear it on the show. If you get on the show. Right. What you want to include is a very brief introduction. I usually don't even have an introduction.

Sara Lohse [00:10:52]:

I pitch without an intro. And if they want to click to my profile, they'll get my intro. But that's not what's gonna grab their attention. But having, if you're gonna do an intro, very, very brief, like less than a sentence with just, I am this person and this one little qualifier of why I'm valid as a guest. And then something that's either a connector or a hook. This is the part that people miss or they do it.

Larry Roberts [00:11:20]:

Everybody. And here I am. You see me leaning into my microphone.

Sara Lohse [00:11:23]:

Because we get so mad.

Larry Roberts [00:11:24]:

Well, well, I get mad about it, too, but at the same time, I have a dog between me, so I'm not. I'm not as close to my mic as I typically am. So you see me leaning in and trying to really make sure that I'm heard. But at the same time, that hook is absolutely critical.

Sara Lohse [00:11:40]:

Yes.

Larry Roberts [00:11:41]:

People come at you and they don't have a hook. They don't have something that will grab your attention, and they hit you with all of their. Their history, their. Their. Their work history, like, essentially their resume, and we don't want a resume. Right. We're not hiring you. We're just looking to have you as a guest on the podcast.

Sara Lohse [00:12:01]:

Yeah. We want to know that you have things to teach and that you have. You have a giving personality. We don't want. Because people look at podcasts and guest opportunities as marketing opportunities, and that's not what it is. And if you're going into it with a mindset of, like, I want to sell something or I want to promote something, you're going in with the wrong mindset, and your pitch will tell us that, and we won't have you on the show. We want you to come on with a mindset of, I have something to share, and I have information to give. I have value to give.

Sara Lohse [00:12:32]:

And I'm saying this in a kind of angry way because it frustrates me, and I'm saying it to way that I sound really mean.

Larry Roberts [00:12:39]:

I love the passion. I love the passion because that's why I quit my last podcast, you know, my last podcast was called you're the Boss, and it was for entrepreneurs and founders of entrepreneurial endeavors. But they would come on and they weren't telling their story, they weren't sharing value. They were pitching their, their profession, their business, their book, whatever it may be. Maybe they were pitching. They were selling my audience, not sharing knowledge with my audience. And that is so huge. There's such a huge difference there.

Sara Lohse [00:13:10]:

Yes. Like, we want to know that you're bringing something of value, and we have something that we can learn from you. We have something that our audience can take away. And it's funny, I think you mentioned books. We were at a different event. I think it was the e women speak anomics, and some, one of the speakers said, podcast hosts love authors. And I'm saying, they're like, no, we don't.

Larry Roberts [00:13:34]:

No, no, we don't. No, we do love authors, but we don't love authors because we don't want to necessarily promote your book. We are not a promotional outlet for your book. We're a promotional outlet for the story and for the value propositions in your book. Yes, but we're not here to sell your book.

Sara Lohse [00:13:55]:

Yeah, we. The reason we don't like authors is because a lot of them answer questions like, oh, well, that's in the book, so you're not offering value. And, I mean, I know I like, I plug my book as much as I can. I'm proud of it, and I like, I like to talk about it, but when I do it, I still answer the question. I'll say, like, oh, yeah, you know, I talk about that in my book, and I say, here is the value here, like this. This is what I like almost verbatim. What was in my book, I am telling you, and I think the fear with authors is that if they give the things away, no one will buy their book, because it's like, well, you already got all the value. Podcast episodes are 30 minutes.

Sara Lohse [00:14:40]:

How short is your book that you can give it all away in 30 minutes?

Larry Roberts [00:14:44]:

And I said, right. But I've also. I was muted. So I'm a real. I'm a podcast professional. I swear. No, but what I was doing was I was looking at my old podcast, which is called you're the boss, which a lot of people were looking for, and they were listening to, and. And people were coming on the show.

Larry Roberts [00:15:02]:

And the reason I quit it is because they were using me as an outlet. Like a sales outlet.

Sara Lohse [00:15:07]:

Yeah.

Larry Roberts [00:15:08]:

They were looking to me and my podcast as an opportunity to sell their book or sell their services, and that's not what it's about. Podcasting has evolved. It's totally different now than it was three years ago, two years ago, one year ago, it's completely different. And now it's all about delivering value based content for the listeners. And if you're on a podcast, guess what? The host is looking for that value proposition.

Sara Lohse [00:15:37]:

Mm hmm. And I think it's so counterproductive, too, when authors are really anybody, when they refuse to actually give the full information, they just give, like, just enough to make you want to do it, but not enough that you could do it yourself. You have to, like, have them do it for you. And it's counterproductive, because if you tell me how to do it, you are proving right there that you know how to do it.

Larry Roberts [00:16:07]:

Right. Right.

Sara Lohse [00:16:08]:

And I could go learn it and try and give it several attempts until I almost get it right and waste a lot of time. Or I can just hire you to do it, and I would only hire you if I know, and I trust that you know what you're doing, and I will not know that unless you tell me how to do it.

Larry Roberts [00:16:30]:

So, Sarah, give us that structure. What is the structure that a good pitch is composed of?

Sara Lohse [00:16:35]:

Yeah. So the first thing, like I said, very, very, very brief bio. The second thing is the connector or the hook. And I feel like hooks we talk about a lot. Hooks are the, are what grabs that attention and really makes them like, okay, I want to read on, but the connector is a little different. And you can use both. You can use either, but I definitely recommend you use one of them. And the connector is just the piece that shows that you did your homework.

Sara Lohse [00:17:01]:

You know what this show is? And we've gotten these that do the opposite because they'll say, oh, I listened to your last episode with blank, and I loved when they talked about this. And we know you only listened to that last episode, and that's not even what we talked about.

Larry Roberts [00:17:18]:

That's the funniest thing is when you get these pitches, they go, oh, I was listening to episode, and it's literally the last episode. You know, they clicked on it. They listened to 30 seconds, maybe, and then tried to tie in their pitch to that one particular episode.

Sara Lohse [00:17:34]:

Yes, we just got one. And I use this in my slides. It was, I loved your episode with Pt talking about the future of content creation, and I just stopped reading because I'm like, pt came on to talk about taxes.

Larry Roberts [00:17:47]:

Right, right, right.

Sara Lohse [00:17:48]:

Get, like, get it right if you're going to use that. So that is not the connector you want to use. I, when I pitch, I pitch to a lot of shows about public speaking because I talk about storytelling and the power storytelling has when it comes to speaking on any outlet. And a lot of the times it's about, like, getting past the fear. So I'll talk about my own fear. I'll pitch saying, like, I love that this is what you talk about, because this is something I've been struggling with myself, and I would love to share my steps for how I've gotten past it. And here are my strategies that I've used, and I'm giving those strategies. I'm giving those steps in the pitch.

Sara Lohse [00:18:28]:

Not in so much detail that it's a super long thing, but I'm just very briefly listing them. And that is what we mean by a connector. How do we know that you understand our audience? How do we know that you understand what our show is about? You need to connect whatever you're talking to talking about to the show or to the host, and then the last thing you want is to actually state the value. And you can do this in two ways. Sometimes I just list, like, here's what I would like to share. Like, here are my three steps, or here it's whatever. But I've even positioned it as goals. Like, my goal would be for your audience to understand this or your audience to be able to do this right away.

Larry Roberts [00:19:14]:

Well, see, I love that because you say goals. Many times, podcasters, especially if they're not experienced, have a hard time understanding what a value proposition is. So if you frame that value prop as a goal, that makes it much more accessible to a wider audience.

Sara Lohse [00:19:31]:

Yeah. It's kind of just putting it back into layman's terms.

Larry Roberts [00:19:35]:

Yeah, yeah.

Sara Lohse [00:19:36]:

And I have so many pitches that I send out. And do they all get picked up? Absolutely not. But a lot of them do. And I've even had hosts read my pitch on their show. If I'm talking about pitching or I'm talking about being a good guest, because they want to just, like, double check. Like, did she. Did she actually do this? Like, is she drinking her own Kool Aid? And they'll go back and read it, and they'll be like, oh, no, that's exactly what you did.

Larry Roberts [00:20:02]:

Yeah, yeah.

Sara Lohse [00:20:03]:

And just the fact that they're reading that on the show is proof that it worked, because I am on the show, and sometimes they've been bad, like, I mean, or sometimes they haven't been picked up. Sometimes, like, I've missed the mark. I I pitched in person, not on, like, a website. I pitched in person to a show that does not accept guests. It's a one person show. And I'm just like, oh, my God, I have a great guest for you. And I'm just going on. This was before I actually learned how to pitch.

Sara Lohse [00:20:30]:

I think it was the same event that I accidentally got on Saki Benjamin's. But I'm pitching, and he's just, like, staring at me. He's like, have you ever listened to my show? I'm like, no.

Larry Roberts [00:20:39]:

Yeah.

Sara Lohse [00:20:40]:

No, I haven't. But I was so embarrassed. And for it was Sam Har. Who? Huge name in podcasting.

Larry Roberts [00:20:47]:

Sure.

Sara Lohse [00:20:48]:

Super respectable dude. And I'm just pitching him. Sounded like an idiot. And he's like, yeah, we don't bring on guests. It's just us. I'm like, well, if you change your mind.

Larry Roberts [00:20:58]:

Yeah, if you start doing guests, I would love to be one. That'd be great.

Sara Lohse [00:21:02]:

Yeah. I'm like, I'm so sorry. Please forget you ever met me.

Larry Roberts [00:21:06]:

That's.

Sara Lohse [00:21:06]:

I'm sure he did.

Larry Roberts [00:21:07]:

It's hilarious. So, Sarah, before we wrap this up, what would be your top points to make? If you're looking to pitch a show, what are. What do you need to follow? What's that?

Sara Lohse [00:21:19]:

Framework, brief introduction, connector, hook, and then value. It's just those three things. And I've never sent a pitch that was more than, like, few sentences. It should be really quick. It should be easy to read. But I think the biggest thing to focus on is going to be that value and also noting the way that you're going to share that value. And this is one thing that I always do. I won't just say, I'd like to share my strategies.

Sara Lohse [00:21:49]:

Strategies are cool. That's great. But podcasting is about stories. So I'll say I have strategies for doing this that I've used that have been successful. And I would love to share some of those stories and experiences of how this has worked and how you can implement it. I always mention stories.

Larry Roberts [00:22:10]:

Okay, that's super.

Sara Lohse [00:22:11]:

And that is super, super key, because podcast hosts, they're looking for value, but they're looking for stories. They're looking for people who can hold a conversation. And if you're answering questions with yes, no, okay, that's the worst. It's awful. Those are not gonna go to air.

Larry Roberts [00:22:30]:

Yeah. And that's one of those files that gets corrupted, right? Yeah.

Sara Lohse [00:22:36]:

Like, oh, I'm so sorry. There's a problem with the audio.

Larry Roberts [00:22:38]:

Yep, yep, yep.

Sara Lohse [00:22:40]:

There's some hosts that will have you do a pre call before they let you on the show. And we've done a few of them, um, often it's just because we want to get to know the person better. We did one because, um, she. We already knew she'd be a great guest, but we wanted to kind of dig more into her, like, what she does as a business. But some of them will do a pre interview, and I've been on those where we're 1520 minutes in and they haven't asked me a single interview question.

Larry Roberts [00:23:06]:

Right.

Sara Lohse [00:23:07]:

And I asked them, like, did. Was there anything like. Like you wanted to ask me? Like, I feel like we've just kind of been talking. Like, I want to make sure that we get to your questions. And they're like, oh, no, this is what I wanted. I wanted to make sure you could have a conversation.

Larry Roberts [00:23:20]:

Wow.

Sara Lohse [00:23:21]:

And we leave that call. Like, we're so excited for the. For the recording. It's gonna be great because we already, like, we're already best friends, and I'm just like, I'm so excited to talk to you again. This is gonna be great. We get on the recording, and it's just like, oh, my God, it's so good to see you again. Like, this is gonna be so much fun because we know we have that chemistry, we know we have that connection, and they already know that I speak in stories and I don't give yes or no answers and I'm willing to share things. And that's really what we're looking for.

Sara Lohse [00:23:48]:

So when you are pitching, make sure you just note that you're going to tell stories and have somewhere. I mean, with podmatch, it puts it in the profile. But if you have anywhere on your website, like a media kit or anything, have links to other podcasts that you've done or like videos that you've done that they can see, like, okay, no, they do know how to speak and they do speak in stories and they. They're giving with their information.

Larry Roberts [00:24:15]:

Well, see, I think that's cool, too, because you talked about a media kit, and the media kit is where we have our one sheet or our bio or our resume or whatever it may be. That's not the pitch. That's that. That's about you. That's a separate piece of content that is not related to the pitch itself. To get on a show, if we.

Sara Lohse [00:24:38]:

Like your pitch, we will ask for your media kit.

Larry Roberts [00:24:40]:

Exactly. Exactly.

Sara Lohse [00:24:42]:

We don't need it yet. Right on. We want to know about you. We want to know who you are.

Larry Roberts [00:24:47]:

Right.

Sara Lohse [00:24:47]:

That's just not step one. That's like the second date. That's the third date, the first night. You just got to woo us like that. That is all you need. And a fun little, like, pro tip for this, and it's what I've been doing forever, is if you have podcasts that you've already been on, whether they're. It's your podcast or it's guest episodes, whatever, on Spotify, you can put all those on a playlist.

Larry Roberts [00:25:12]:

Dude, that's the coolest. You do so well. You do that.

Sara Lohse [00:25:16]:

I've done this for other people. If you look at, like, my personal playlist, I have like a layer Harris podcasts. Yeah, but make a playlist of your podcast that you have done, and then you can embed that actual playlist on your website. And I do this on my media page. I don't have, like, a physical media kit. I have a page on my website. That is my media kit.

Larry Roberts [00:25:36]:

Right.

Sara Lohse [00:25:37]:

And at the bottom, there's. The whole playlist is there. And you can see, like, oh, not only like, you don't even have to listen to them to know. She's done a lot of podcasts, right. She's got to know what she's doing. I can click one, make sure, like, okay, her audio sounds fine. Like, clearly she has a microphone and her voice isn't annoying. And I know it is, but, like, we can pretend because those are kinds of things that we look for.

Sara Lohse [00:25:59]:

Like, when you and I go through the pitches that we get.

Larry Roberts [00:26:01]:

Yeah.

Sara Lohse [00:26:02]:

I. They'll. They give, like, examples of episodes, and we'll go and just make sure that we like the way that they speak. The way that they speak. And we look to see. Are they using a microphone?

Larry Roberts [00:26:14]:

Yep. That's. That's the first. That's first. And fore. And I know I may sound shitty today because I'm so far away from my mic, but it's.

Sara Lohse [00:26:20]:

You sound better than a lot of them.

Larry Roberts [00:26:21]:

Sophie's in between me and my mic, so I. I just have to accommodate her today. Uh, but. But, yeah, 100%. We always look to see exactly how you sound and how you look on video as well.

Sara Lohse [00:26:32]:

Yeah. And with how you look, it's not about, like, appearances. It's not about. We only let the pretty people on. No, no, you are beautiful.

Larry Roberts [00:26:41]:

Yes.

Sara Lohse [00:26:41]:

Even if we don't. If we don't accept your pitch, you're still beautiful.

Larry Roberts [00:26:44]:

It's.

Sara Lohse [00:26:45]:

Are you in a really messy, like, lobby that's really noisy? Are you. Did you show up? Like, did you clearly put effort into just looking professional or are you showing up super messy? It's about the effort that you're putting in. Because we put so much effort into our shows.

Larry Roberts [00:27:04]:

Yeah.

Sara Lohse [00:27:04]:

We put so much effort into getting ready for them, planning the content, producing the content, getting it out, sharing it on social, creating assets for you to share it on social. And if you're just showing up like you just rolled out of bed, you look a mess and you're talking into your, like, apple I earbuds, whatever they are.

Larry Roberts [00:27:23]:

And a very technical. Yeah, nice.

Sara Lohse [00:27:26]:

They have a name, your ear pods. Airpods.

Larry Roberts [00:27:30]:

Yeah.

Sara Lohse [00:27:31]:

And you're just talking into your AirPods. Yeah, that's not. That makes our job harder with production, and you're not putting any work and you're not putting effort in.

Larry Roberts [00:27:38]:

Right.

Sara Lohse [00:27:39]:

So we just want to see that you're gonna put effort in.

Larry Roberts [00:27:42]:

Yeah, yeah.

Sara Lohse [00:27:42]:

And that you care about the content you're creating with us.

Larry Roberts [00:27:45]:

Hundred percent. So, yeah, I mean, that's. The bottom line is come. Come to, you know, come to podcast prepared, prepare to represent you, prepare to represent your brand and understand that, you know, we take this entire form seriously and we hope you do, too.

Sara Lohse [00:27:59]:

Yeah. And we say that we still want you to have fun. We want it to be a good time, but just make. Make it look like you put the effort in and we just spent the last half hour making me sound so mean.

Larry Roberts [00:28:11]:

Yeah, you're super aggressive, and no one likes you.

Sara Lohse [00:28:14]:

I mean, seriously, I'm.

Larry Roberts [00:28:17]:

This episode is rough.

Sara Lohse [00:28:18]:

Sorry. I love all of you.

Larry Roberts [00:28:20]:

My feelings are hurt, and I'm a co host. I'm hurt on the inside right now.

Sara Lohse [00:28:24]:

I just. Okay. I'm only. It's constructive criticism. I'm saying this because I want you to do better. I want you. I want you to be better at this, and I want you to get on all the podcasts that you pitched to.

Larry Roberts [00:28:34]:

Yes.

Sara Lohse [00:28:35]:

And I'm. Be my friend. I'm really nice. I really. I'm sorry. I adopted two rescue dogs. I donate to charity sometimes. I'm sorry.

Larry Roberts [00:28:46]:

I have a dog in my lap, so I'm cool with dogs, too. But anyway, no, seriously, this was a very. We won't call it aggressive, but direct episode. And I think. Oh, I'm so sorry. So I just poked her in the eye. But we have to be. We have to.

Larry Roberts [00:29:02]:

We have to understand these things, and we don't hear this message very often. How do we pitch to really be effective and really get on podcasts? So I think this episode was very constructive, very informative, and I think a lot of people can learn how they can position themselves going forward so they get on more shows that not only benefit themselves, but benefit the audience of the shows that they're on. And that's absolutely critical. So.

Sara Lohse [00:29:28]:

And now moving forward, if we get some crappy pitches in our inbox, we know you don't actually listen to our show, so don't play yourself.

Larry Roberts [00:29:38]:

Oh, man. Don't play yourself. You dub played yourself. Holy schnikeys. That was aggressive. But anyway, no, I love it. And hopefully, this was a very educational episode, because, again, you don't hear this content very often. You know, you hear that you have to pitch, you have to get on podcasts, you need to get yourself out there, but you don't necessarily hear how to pitch.

Larry Roberts [00:30:00]:

And Sara did an amazing job at the Badass Business summit just last week, and we thought this would be extremely valuable for every one of you out there as well. Hopefully, you found some value in this episode. I know you did. So if that's the case, please hit that subscribe button so we can continue to bring you these amazing episodes each and every week, even if they still a little bit. And with that, I'm Larry Roberts.

Sara Lohse [00:30:25]:

And I'm Sara Lohse. We'll talk to you next week.