3 Learnings from MSP Podcasts

Prior to September 2019, I had listened to many podcasts, but had never participated in one as a guest. It was my family who turned me onto podcasts as an easy and fun way to learn from experts about a topic. Or to perhaps multi-task while taking a walk or even relaxing at home. But the notion of being a guest on a podcast never really crossed my mind.

I can now tell you I am hooked on being a guest on MSP Podcasts. I love them and can’t get enough of them and try to participate as often as I can. Jay McBain from Forrester recently published a list of the top MSP podcasts of 2019. I partnered with our amazing agency Matter and issued them a challenge—book me as a guest on every one of these 64 podcasts.  A tall task but to date I have been a guest on 10 podcasts and wanted to share my top 3 learnings from what has been a phenomenal experience in the MSP ecosystem.

Bring the Goods. If you don’t have a great story to share or real expertise to bring to a podcast, the likelihood of getting booked as a guest is close to nil. I know that sounds somewhat obvious, but it is worthwhile to step back and ask yourself “Do I have something to share that others will appreciate and learn from?” If you don’t and can’t clearly communicate a unique value proposition to the host and ultimately the listeners, there is no point in going down the path to begin with. Fortunately, at Nerdio, our mission of empowering MSPs to build successful cloud practices in Microsoft Azure resonates incredibly well with every MSP on the planet and is quite relevant to most podcast hosts and listeners. Take the time to think through your unique angle and value proposition before starting your podcast journey.

Research Like Crazy. The biggest mistake you can make when looking to participate in podcast is to not do a bunch of up-front research on the host and the podcast itself. Most good podcasts have a rich history of guests and episodes you can listen to in order to get the flow of the show and the host’s style. Don’t go in cold as it will only make the recording that much more difficult. Take the time to learn about the person interviewing you and the topics they enjoy delving into as it will make the show that much more enjoyable to the listeners who ultimately you hope your message will resonate with.

Be Flexible.  No guest on a podcast should expect to come to the show and not be thrown a few curves during the conversation. Although hosts sometimes like to script the questions ahead of time, the most interesting podcasts I have listened to and participated in have a ton of ad-libbed moments. They are often the most enlightening and entertaining. If you expect to come to a podcast and be robotic in your answers, you may be the wrong kind of person for this type of communication vehicle. I oftentimes share relevant anecdotes from my almost 25-year tenure at Microsoft to make a point, and these stories are always off-script and probably a surprise to the host and hopefully the listeners as well. Being flexible in your approach to the interview will produce a much richer and more entertaining episode for the listeners.

If MSP Podcasts are not in your marketing mix as a SaaS company, I strongly recommend you consider adding them as they can ultimately pay big dividends for your brand awareness and ultimately sales of your product and service.