We all know that real estate investing, and business in general, is a relationship game. However, it’s not only about who you know, but more importantly, who knows you. It’s about building relationships with people in the industry and getting your name out to as many potential customers and business partners as possible.
An effective method for getting your name in front of a large number of people is creating your own thought leadership platform, like starting your own podcast. But if that doesn’t align with your interest or busy schedule, another effective method is to be interviewed on other people’s podcasts. When you are a featured guest on a real estate investing podcast, those conversations can lead to new deals, to more people following you that wouldn’t know who you were otherwise, and to gaining more business.
About two years ago, for example, I was on Marco Santerelli’s podcast, Passive Real Estate Investing (click here to listen to my full interview). After the show, I received a message through the “Contact Us” page on my website from an investor who heard me on the podcast. After going back and forth, this individual eventually invested in one of my deals. Fast-forward to today and he has invested nearly $18 million in my deals!
Jessica Rhodes, who is the founder of a premier guest booking agency for podcasters, is an expert on how to get invited to be interviewed on other people’s podcasts. In our recent conversation, she outlined exactly how to go from a nobody to being interviewed on multiple popular real estate investing podcasts.
Before even thinking about reaching out to podcasters, Jessica says there are three things you must do first.
First, you must position yourself as an expert in your industry. “If you’re a real estate investor and you want to be going on real estate podcasts to talk about your expertise and eventually attract investors to deals,” Jessica said, “you’ve got to position yourself as somebody who is successful and has a track record of success and is experienced.”
If you want to be perceived as an expert in your field, it starts with your online presence. Jessica said, “You should definitely have a decent website and an online presence that shows that you are somebody that’s actually in the business. Nowadays, if you don’t have a website, it’s like ‘What are you, dead?’ Everyone has a website if they’re in the business. So looking at your online presence, looking at your social media presence so people can actually connect with you.” People want to interview people with a story, not only people with a business or expertise, so make sure your online presence reflects this.
Once you’ve created your website and/or social media pages, the next step is to create a one-sheet bio. “A one-sheet is a branded PDF document that has your name and has your bio, and which is something short that a host could read at the beginning of a show to introduce you,” Jessica said. “Your bio might have something like how much money you’ve invested in real estate, what kind of rental real estate income you have every year… Maybe how many properties or how many states you invest in – have some of those facts right in your intro and right in your bio on your one-sheet, so it captures the host’s attention.”
In addition to your one-sheet bio page, you want to create another one-sheet with some interview topics or questions. Jessica said, “When you’re pitching yourself or you have an agent that’s pitching you to hosts, you don’t want to make them do all the work. You want to say, “Hey here’s what we’re going to talk about?”’ You want to make it as easy as possible for the interviewer who’s hosting you. Also, you want to show the host why your experience is going to be valuable to their audience. You accomplish both by preparing and sending this second one-sheeter to the host, or at least having it handy prior to or during the interview.
Now that you are prepared by framing yourself as an expert with your online presence, creating a one-sheet bio, and preparing a one-sheeter with interview topics and questions, you are ready to start reaching out to a host of a business, motivational, or real estate investing podcast. So how do you find podcasts?
First, Jessica said, “To find podcasts that are a good fit for you, the questions that you have to answer are: who is your target audience? What kinds of people are going to be the most valuable listeners for your business? What is your biggest pain points?” How you answer these questions will determine the type of podcast you will add the most value to.
If you are a real estate investor who’s had a lot of success, for example, and you want to start teaching other people how to do the same, you will add the most value to investors who are just starting out. If that is the case, find those real estate investing podcast whose listenership are beginners. If you are looking for more deals or more private money investors, look for shows that are more established, that are talking to people who have a lot of experience, or that are talking about higher-level real estate topics.
Jessica said, “Figure out what your goal is with the podcast interviews, what you want to get out of them, and then find shows that are a good fit.”
Once you’ve established your goals and what podcasts to pursue, Jessica said, “You just go to iTunes and search ‘real estate’ – in fact, you can actually go to iTunes and go through the different categories of podcasts. There’s business, then there’s investing, and there are subcategories, and I believe real estate investing or real estate is one of those subcategories.”
If you search “real estate” on iTunes, you will find a list of real estate investing podcasts. Besides finding podcasts that align with your goals, you want to also make sure that 1) they are currently publishing episodes (there is a huge iTunes graveyard full of inactive podcasts) and 2) that they interview people on each episode.
Once you have a list of podcasts that align with your goals, are actively publishing, and have guests, you want to submit an interview request. For the majority of podcasts, this will be as simple as clicking on the link to their website, which should be provided on their iTunes page and going to the “Contact Us” page. If there isn’t a link or the link is dead, Google the podcast name to find a website. If there isn’t a “Contact Us” function on the website, try to find an email address on the website. If the website doesn’t have a “Contact Us” function or an email address listed, you can try to find them on Twitter or another social media platform.
Once you find out how to contact them, you will send them your pitch. Jessica said, “the pitch has got to be personalized, and it has to clearly communicate to them how your topic, how your content, your story is going to bring value to their listeners. You have to paint that picture for them because that’s a podcaster’s number one goal. They only want to bring on guests on their show if they believe that content is going to be valuable to their listeners. Because if it’s not, listeners are not going to come back for the next episode. That’s the one question you have to answer. Don’t worry in your pitch [about] listing out all your accomplishments and how great you are. Tell them how you find their show, why you want to be a guest, why your content would be valuable, and then attach that one-sheet to your email and hyperlink your name or your business name to your website.”
This is important to keep in mind when sending out pitches: follow up is KEY! Most people will not respond the first time. “If you pitch a podcaster and they don’t reply to you within a day, don’t give up,” Jessica said. “We follow up every two business days, and then it’s good to make the follow up personal and maybe include some additional different information. Follow up via social media because maybe they just weren’t getting your email.”
Finally, Jessica said, “I just think the biggest thing is being persistent and not giving up, and knowing that it’s a long-term strategy. So don’t just send a couple pitches to a couple shows and think ‘Okay, let’s just see what happens.’ If you want to get on four shows a month, you should probably be pitching 8 to 10 shows to actually make the goal of four shows a month happen.”
While creating your own thought leadership platform, like a real estate investing podcast, is a great way to scale your business, it’s even more effective to be interviewed on other people’s podcasts.
Prior to reaching out to podcasters, position yourself as an expert in your field, create a one-sheet bio, and prepare a one-sheeter with interview topics and questions that reflect your expertise.
Next, understand what type of podcasts are the best fit for you based on your goals. Then search the iTunes store to make a list of podcasts, making sure they align with your goals, they are active, and they interview guests on each episode.
Finally, reach out to the podcast host and send them a pitch. Follow up and persistence is key. If they don’t respond right away, continue following up. Also, send out 2 to 3 times more pitches than the number of podcasts you want to be interviewed on. If you want to be on 4 podcasts per month, for example, send out 8 to 12 pitches per month.
If you’re an entrepreneur, investor, syndicator, or other successful professional with a deep insight into business and real estate, I have a daily real estate investing podcast and it’s possible my listeners would love to hear your story. Check it out and see if you think it’d be a good fit!
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this blog post are provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as an offer to buy or sell any securities or to make or consider any investment or course of action.