In case you missed out on the Small Business Supercharge in May this year, we’re pulling some highlight moments from the day to publicize!
This Week: Lou Diamond’s Interview and the Podcast Sales Technique he taught us
Stephanie:
You mentioned to me one time that there’s a way to grow your business through podcasts. But! Without being a host (A time consuming endeavor) or being a guest (Also a time consuming endeavor.) I didn’t ask you then, but I’ve been dying of curiosity since that moment. So how do you grow your business through podcasts by being a listener?
Lou:
Just to clarify, you can grow your business through a podcast in both of those ways.
As I have grown my business, I’ve seen where we can probably point to over 7 figures that have come from this podcast program we have. We’ve hosted people as a way of drawing in revenue to the business (Thrive), and we have recognized that being a guest on other people’s podcasts is a great strategy. I myself have gone as a guest (whether to promote my book or increase awareness), because being hosting podcasts and being a guest on a podcast are both great ways to grow your business.
Podcasting is a great marketing tool, a great way to grow your business, and a fun way to do it.
But I’ve always been amazed because podcasts are the most valuable resource to prospective business development deals.
Here’s how you can use podcasts to grow your business.
WITHOUT hosting or being a guest.
Let’s say you want to grow your business and you have some companies with target connectworking individuals (people you want to connect with). And I’m not talking about the lower-level company people, or small businesses. I’m talking big companies such as Johnson and Johnson, the kind of institutional folks that come speak at big conferences. The people you want to connect with are the higher-ups in a big company.
You can make opportunities happen by listening to podcasts they’ve been on.
Think about it this way:
There is no other medium in the world that will get a Senior Executive, CEO, or Head of Marketing/Sales just talking for 20-30 minutes. If they go on CNBC, it’s a 3-4 minute clip. If you go to their website, it’s all curated content around their brand (like an infomercial). But if you get a good guest, and a good host, you’ll learn at least one important thing about the person. You’ll likely learn what they care about, what music they like, what their focus is, etc. In other words, something personal to them.
Additionally, people don’t know who is listening when they go on a podcast. They don’t even know how many people are listening, most of the time.
But get this:
If I listen to a podcast that they’ve been on and reach out via LinkedIn to executives by saying “Mr. Smith, I totally enjoyed your appearance on the Thrive Loud podcast. I thought that when you spoke about Smarketing it was really brilliant! I’d love the opportunity to talk with you and connect with you.” I’m way more likely to get a good response!
I’ve created a starting point of outreach that is far more likely to get a positive response than if I reach out and say “Hey, I’d like to discuss a product with you.”
The unbelievable stat we’ve discovered on this is that 85% of the time that this tactic is utilized, the people we’ve reached out to have not only connected back to us on LinkedIn but have responded and we’ve started a correspondence. It starts the opportunity to at least have a conversation.
This strategy works!
Using this strategy has gotten our foot in the door with people like Johnson and Johnson.
I wanted to connect with some leading executives from Johnson and Johnson, so I did a search for the podcast programs they’d been on recently. And you wouldn’t believe how many of those executives have been on a podcast show in the last 18 months!