After a podcast interview, post the episode on your media page, homepage and blog, share it on a recurring social schedule, add the logos and quotes you earned, turn the audio into a video with a graphic, transcribe it into a blog post, thank and promote the host, and keep offering help so you stay in rotation.
After a podcast interview, your job is to get a return on the time you invested. You gave up part of your life to learn about podcasting, land the interview and do it. The biggest investment is not money, it is time. I have a Guinness World Record for interviews, and even I messed this up along the way. Here is what I learned.
What should you do before the interview ends?
Give calls to action. Tell people what to do next. Where should they go? What can they download that is valuable? How can they get a piece of you, without forcing it on anybody? I have a short web address that goes to an internal page on my site where people can book an appointment with me. On a podcast I might say "if you want a quick fifteen minute appointment where I give you real advice, I am making a few slots available this week." I make between three and nine slots available each week, and people grab them before they are gone.
That is how you convert an interview into something real, ideally business. And even if the listener is not a perfect fit to buy, they now know a lot more about you and can talk about you and recommend you. Those are seeds planted around the world. The full approach is in how to get business from podcast appearances.
How do you promote the episode?
When the host sends the link, put it out on social media. I used to do an interview, whether podcast or traditional, and the email would sit there forever. I never told anybody. Not on purpose, just not doing a good job. So get it into a system.
I use a scheduling tool that recycles posts: you fill a bucket of posts, and when it hits the bottom it goes back and starts again. I keep one bucket of interviews I have done. Every Friday on LinkedIn there is me in an interview. Another bucket has me teaching and showing something, usually video, on Wednesdays. On other networks the interviews show up at other times. You would be surprised. People see it and comment, "I did not realize you talk about that." Some are interviews I did years ago, and that works as long as my face still looks the same. When it does not, it is time to phase in new interviews.
The idea is to leverage it during, by saying the right things, and after, so it shows up in multiple places, including your website and your blog. For the full list of ways to extend an interview, see how to repurpose a media interview and the complete guide to leveraging media interviews.
Where should the interview live on your website?
Everywhere a sales decision can be made, not just a media page. Most people say they will put it on the media page and stop there. I put interviews on my blog and on pages where visitors decide whether to work with me. One client put a video interview on his homepage, and he told me it brings him business all the time. People hear him talk about what he does like a real person, and there is an extra layer of authority because somebody is interviewing him. Interviews can help for years.
Here is a related point about the proof people look for. When someone is thinking about working with you, they look around your site for social proof: an article, a video, a radio interview, testimonials. All of it says you are the real deal.
Can you use the logos and quotes?
Logos of outlets where you appeared, with "as seen on," carry a lot of power. One attorney I work with, who helps truckers, has them on his site. I would have moved them up into the first screen, but he made a strategic choice to put a video of himself there instead, and that is his call. Is it allowed? Lawyers have told me that if you are giving them extra promotion they are likely to leave you alone. If you claim to have been on a show you were not on, that is no good. Technically the outlets might say no if asked. In practice it is common. As I always say, if in doubt, leave it out. You can also write the names out.
If an outlet quotes you saying something great, such as calling you an expert, put it on your site and in other materials, and ask whoever introduces you at an event to say it. One guest I introduced as the ghostwriting guru used that line in his materials for years. I laughed, because I had just been typing something tired. Be on the lookout.
How do you reuse the audio and the words?
- Put audio on YouTube. YouTube needs a video, so make a graphic (I used the host's photo, my photo, the station logo and a few words, built in a presentation program and exported as a picture) and combine it with the audio using any simple movie editor. Or pay someone a few dollars on a freelance site to do it. YouTube can help you get found, and you can embed it on your website. An audio hosting site is a fine alternative, though YouTube is better. Anything is better than nothing.
- Blog it. A blog helps with search engines. Add a note giving credit to the outlet that did the interview.
- Transcribe it. Put the transcript on your website or in the YouTube description. If you are selling it, copyright may matter. For your own site and a description, it gets the search engines going. Give credit.
- Use it as a starting point for an ebook. Not the interview itself, but a jumping-off point. You can speak a book and have it transcribed.
I had interviews that sat on my computer for a couple of years. That did not help me at all.
How do you stay in rotation with the host?
Keep the relationship going. Help the host before the interview, and help afterward. Email and say "if you ever need someone with my expertise to bounce things off, I am happy to be a resource." Pitch another story. Now they are thinking of you every time they do a segment in your field, because you make life easy for them. We call that the rotation. For how hosts and producers think, see what TV producers and bookers want from a pitch and how to be the guest producers call back. Do not forget to promote them back. They interviewed you, and not mentioning them is not good form.
Why not become the media yourself?
Once you do this, you may want your own platform. You can shoot short videos on your phone with a tripod and a microphone made for phones, build a channel, blog, or start a podcast. Do not wait for a gatekeeper. Start from wherever you are, and your own work can open doors. See how to grow a podcast for the host side.