6 Signs to Help You Avoid A Common Visibility ROI Mistake

I hear a common concern over and over again on visibility from coaches, service providers, business owners and others who have heard that being a podcast guest is a great way to build authority and attract clients.

Even though they’ve invested big bucks with a booking agency and have poured their heart into an interview where the host says ‘that was amazing’...

The guest gets ZILCH.

Now if you have tried out the podcast guesting strategy with little results to show for it, don’t give up yet.

Let’s unpack what may have gone awry starting with:

Not All Podcasts Will Be Good Visibility for You and Your Business

I’m a big fan of being a guest expert to amplify the reach of your Lighthouse Message. As a host of my own show as well as a guest expert for the last decade on thousands of shows all over the world, I quickly realized that people interview guests for many reasons.?

And, not all podcast hosts are focused on creating reach with their episode.

If your host is new, or isn’t focused on the steps to grow their listener base, it’s not uncommon to get ZERO traction as a guest!

If you are like a lot of my busy clients who need to have excellent productivity, and every moment (and dollar) you spend on being visible needs to count, then here’s a few warning signs a show might not have great reach:

The host doesn’t share their own episodes

This isn’t a definitive factor, as hosts with daily or multi-day of the week shows have a lot of episodes to post about, so you’ll want to explore the next sign to help you decide.

No ranking on ListenNotes

ListenNotes is controversial, and doesn’t always register the popularity and reach of a show. But combined with the first factor, the ranking may give you a clue into how much energy the show host puts into growing their listener base.

Note: We focus our clients on shows that have a 1 - 10% ListenNotes score and/or have a significant social media presence where they consistently share their episodes.

No episode art is used to highlight the guest

Usually this is a sign that the host is “bare-bones” producing their show. It’s not a deal breaker, but it does change how you share the show as you’ll have to produce your own assets.

Luckily, my clients get access to my templates that help keep their brand intact AND share the shows they are featured in

The episode description has one sentence that MAY include your name and title

This is a big sign to me of a show host that is not focused on audience growth. If the episode doesn’t showcase YOU, the guest, with your contact details and specific topic, chances are the show leverages the guest’s audience for growth (or is focused on their guests becoming clients.)

The show notes do not contain bulleted highlights or time stamped transcripts

Now I made this mistake for the first couple of years, purely to “save time and money.” Then I realized that top shows make it easy for people searching online to FIND the show with more detailed show notes (which is massively helpful for SEO!) Again, not a deal-breaker, but if you are more sophisticated in your marketing and are looking for top shows, this could be a flag.?

It’s a new show with under 10 episodes

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing -- we all have to start somewhere -- but it’s important to know. New shows are still building their audience. If the host is investing in a launch strategy, leveraging their own social media and email list, and showcasing you with a lot of fan-fare, then it could be valuable visibility.

If you are building up your authority, go for it. But if you need your visibility efforts to pay off and you want to borrow other people's audiences as part of growing your reach, do a little digging before you say yes to their podcast.

Bottom Line: if the host isn’t generating their own reach for their show that means you, the guest expert, need to bring the audience to generate an ROI.?

When we move into the Visibility Sprint segment of my $100k Authority Accelerator program, we do the pitching FOR our clients. We look at all of these factors along with each client’s goals to identify the right shows for them.

Depending on what YOUR goals are for visibility, you'll want to create your own ideal show avatar so you know what show's are aligned, and which ones may not be the best fit.

If you are doing this on your own, it pays to know the signs of a show that can co-create a big win with you to improve your ROI!

Note: If you are a podcast host, this advice is not meant to disparage anyone's approach to how they run their show, but rather, make sure that any guest expert you invite to join you on your show is a valuable win-win-win!

Are you ready to monetize your visibility and stand out in a sea of same-sounding experts? You may be closer to this goal than you realize, and with a few tweaks, you could be generating 5-6 figure months with your message.?

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