Hey Friend!

You’re probably surprised to see me in your Inbox on a Monday? It doesn’t happen often. 👀

This is a strategy deep dive edition. I typically only send these to to active clients, but wanted to give everyone a free preview of what you can expect in my upcoming paid newsletter. 💖

This weekend, I saw a post from dani herrera while I was scrolling through Threads, and I had thoughts. A lot of them.

So I jumped in. And what started as a reply turned into a full breakdown of why podcast guesting doesn't work for most people—and what actually does.

Let me share what I told her (plus some extras for you).

But before we dive-in, check out this week’s partner below. A simple click from you lets our partners know you read this newsletter and helps keep it free! 💖

Most podcast guests treat an episode like a one-and-done thing. They record, share the link once, maybe twice, and move on. They fail to see the episode as content for THEM. What a missed opportunity!

In my experience, the guests who actually see ROI from podcast appearances are the ones that repurpose. Not reshare. Repurpose.

Jeffrey Fermin is a great example. After his episode on my show, he didn't just share my link. He created his own posts from HIS perspective that resonated with HIS audience. He pulled out the moments that aligned with what he already talks about and made them his own.

As you can see, the post did really well! He posted a few more times. If you’re not following Jeffrey, go change that! You’re missing out.

Hady Méndez, Adam Posner, Shannon Ogborn... they all do this. They treat podcast appearances as raw material for their content strategy, not as favors they did for a host.

If you're already getting opportunities through your content (and I know many of you are), you have to share the episode in a way that you know works for your audience. Not just "new episode out!" with a link.

Dani asked me if download numbers are a good metric for deciding which podcasts are worth your time.

Short answer: No.

Downloads are mostly vanity numbers. What I focus on instead:

Look at their LinkedIn, their newsletter, their socials. Are they actually putting effort into getting eyes on their content?

But look at the comments, shares, conversations. Not just likes.

Do they have a podcast website? Are episodes optimized for search?

If a host doesn't promote their own show, you have no business going on there and spending unpaid time. You can't care about the success of their show more than they do.

I do make ONE exception to my rules. If the host is my ICP and I’m trying to pitch them, then I go on their show. Different strategy there.

Here's something most podcast guests don't realize: a lot of hosts have no clue how to get their show discovered. And I'm not claiming to be an expert, but here's what I do differently:

 One of the first steps in my episode prep is researching keywords relevant to what my GUEST does. Not what I do. What they do. I binge their content. I look at what's working for them. I plan the episode around the topics their audience already cares about.

 And that's how I write show notes. My keywords are secondary. The guest's keywords come first.

 I’m confident this is the reason why I've had multiple guests get found and hired directly from episodes on my podcast. Because the episode was built to serve their audience, not just mine.

Here's what it comes down to:

Podcast guesting is mostly free content for you. Someone else is doing the production. Someone else is hosting. You just show up and talk about what you already know. But that free content MUST align with your content strategy.

 If you're going on random shows that have nothing to do with your ICP or your visibility goals, you're wasting your time. If you're not repurposing the content afterward, you're leaving money on the table. If you're not vetting the host's promotion habits, you're gambling with your time.

Podcast guesting works! But only if you treat it like the strategic content opportunity it is, not a vanity play.

Dani mentioned that she does reshare assets everywhere, multiple times. But she was surprised how many hosts don't even send collateral after the episode. (Criminal, if you ask me. I spend a lot of money producing my show and I gift professionally edited clips to all of my guests.)

 So I'm accepting this as a challenge.

 Dani is actually going to be a guest on Workfluencer next month. So my goal is to get her at least ONE lead from that episode.

 I'm competitive. And now I want to win this for both of us.

 I'll keep you posted. 💖

P.S. If you liked this strategy deep dive and are interested in becoming a paid subscriber, hit reply and let me know.