If you want to amplify your authority, guesting on podcasts is a great strategy. But how can you find shows that are looking for guests? In this episode, we’ll find out how to amplify your authority through podcast guesting with Mark Herschberg.
Mark launches and fixes new ventures at startups, Fortune 500s, and academia, which focuses on digital media and cybersecurity. He is also an author, app creator, speaker, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology instructor.
Mark has been a featured guest on over 300 podcasts. It all began when he was advised that the best way to promote his book was to get booked on podcasts. Over the years, he has learned some of the best ways to get a steady stream of podcast bookings and grow his network.
If you’d like to know more about how you can take podcast guesting to new heights and use it to amplify your authority and network, be sure to listen to this episode.
IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL DISCOVER:
- Mark’s story of discovering the advantages of podcast guesting (02:09)
- The benefits of guesting in podcasts vs having your own podcast (03:19)
- Two questions to ask the host after your interview (10:40)
- Top strategies to get more podcast bookings (15:50)
- Optimum ways to research podcast shows looking for guests (23:05)
- The importance of expressing the value you deliver (29:15)
- The Brain Bump app and how it can help you as a content creator (31:45)
QUOTES:
- “Focus on what your audience needs. If you can create good audience value, other things will come.” -Mark Herschberg
- “Guesting on other people’s podcasts extends your reach, but having your own podcast will deepen the relationship with your audience.” -Mark Herschberg
RESOURCES MENTIONED
WHERE TO FIND MARK HERSCHBERG
- Website: https://www.cognoscomedia.com/
- Facebook: Cognosco Media The Career Toolkit
- Instagram: Cognosco Media The Career Toolkit
- Twitter: Cognosco Media The Career Toolkit
- LinkedIn: Mark Herschberg
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- Your current situation and immediate opportunities for growth
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ABOUT MARK HERSCHBERG
Mark is the author of The Career Toolkit, Essential Skills for Success That No One Taught You, and creator of the Brain Bump app. Educated at MIT, Mark has spent his career launching and fixing new ventures at startups, Fortune 500s, and academia, focusing on digital media and cybersecurity.
TRANSCRIPTION
Mark Herschberg Snippet (00:00):
If you can create good audience value, other things will come. So focus not on here’s what I need to sell focus on, here’s the value, I can add them to whom let me find those audiences and deliver that value. So first, make sure you that clear in your head.
Samantha Riley Intro (00:18):
My name is Samantha Riley, and this is the podcast for experts who want to be the unapologetic leader in their industry. We’re going to share the latest business growth, marketing, and leadership strategies, as well as discussing how you can use your human design to create success in business and life. Inside and out. It’s time to take your influence, income, and impact to the level you know you’re capable of. Are you ready to make a bigger difference and scale up? This is the Influence By Design podcast.
Welcome to today’s episode of Influence By Design, I’m your host, Samantha Riley. And today we’re going to talk about podcasting and specifically how to be a guest on more podcasts, which I know we’ve covered quite a few times before, but it is such a brilliant way to grow your influence and grow your audience. So today, I’ve invited Mark Herschberg, who is the author of the career toolkit, essential skills for success that no one taught you. And he’s also the creator of the brain dump app, which he’s going to talk a little bit about today. Also, his spent his career launching and fixing new ventures, and at startups and fortune 500 companies focusing on digital media and cybersecurity. So welcome to the show, Mark. It’s great to have you here.
Mark (01:35):
Thanks for having me on. It’s my pleasure to be here.
Samantha (01:38):
You reached out to me after we were in a networking event together virtually, obviously, because we can tell our accents are a little bit different. Last week, we didn’t have the joy of actually meeting in one of the rooms, but we had a little bit of a conversation over email. And you mentioned that you’d been on over 300 podcasts. And I was just I just knew that we had to get you on the show to talk about exactly how you did that. Because there’s so many people in my audience that want to get on more podcasts, and they can’t get that kind of momentum.
So what I’d love to know first is how is it that you, you know, fell into being a guest on podcasting? What was that? That I guess, thing that made you realize that this was such a great way for you to build your influence.
Mark (02:24):
It was not an intentional part of my career, to begin with. And my day job, I build tech startup companies. But I’ve been teaching at MIT for a couple of decades. I wrote a book. And what I learned from my friend Dorie Clark, is if you want to promote your book, you need to go on podcasts the same way actors and actresses go on the late-night talk shows to promote whatever movie they’re doing.
We can’t quite make it onto those big late-night talk shows. Podcasting is where we go to talk to our potential audience about our projects. So podcasting is the way to go. Yeah, could not agree more. This is also exactly how I fell into podcasting was when I launched my first book, and guested on podcasts and thought, Oh, this is a bit of fun. I like this. I used to get in trouble all the time at school for talking in class. And now I found out Oh, I was just, you know, warming up then.
Samantha (03:19):
So how did you start getting into so many podcasts because 300 podcasts is quite a lot.
Mark (03:27):
It’s actually, I want to note, something that you just alluded to, which is about having your own podcast versus going on others. And I often get asked Mark, why don’t you have your own. Now when you think about the motivations by going on other podcasts, I am reaching other audiences, I’m reaching new people. And so that gives me a faster reach if it’s just my own each time. On the other hand, my reach is shallow, you’re gonna hear me once you’re a regular listener to this great program, you’re not going to hear me again.
And so when you have some low-level entry point, so I’ve got, for example, my book and my app, app is free book is, you know, $20, it’s easy, okay, I can hit you once, I might get you to do that. If you are selling something that is higher value. So most people are consultants, you have some type of service or product or coaching. That’s a higher price point item. No one gonna hear you once a podcast and write a four or five or six-figure check. That’s where you have to build up brand trust.
And that’s where by having your own podcast where people hear you week after week, and they build that trust and engagement. They say, hey, you know, I bought the 20 of our book on a whim, but I really like her. She sounds smart. I like what she’s doing. I want to bring her in for more. So you want to think about whether you should go in other podcasts or have your own others extend your reach, but your own will deepen your relationship to your audience. I’m sorry, I now forgot the question you asked.
Samantha (05:00):
Last night, and that is so important. So I’m really glad you went back and touched on that I’m a big believer in both for exactly the reasons that you spoke about right then. But for some people, putting the time aside to have their own podcast isn’t a priority right now. I think as a long-term strategy, it should definitely be in there because of the growing that authority in the marketplace. But if you’re just starting out, then definitely guesting on a podcast is a better strategy than starting your own podcast. So totally agree with you.
Mark (05:37):
It’s a lot like an email list. It takes time to build up you can’t just say, Well, I wonder three podcasts, or I launched my own three episodes. Why don’t have a million followers, you need to build it up over time?
Samantha (05:47):
Yeah, it’s definitely a long game. And the quote that I think of is, you know, the best time to plant an oak tree is 20 years ago. But the next best thing the best, the next best time is now. Oh, my goodness, I haven’t finished my first coffee of the day, you can tell.
And I’m definitely glad that I started my podcast back in 2015. Because now we’re getting, you know, 10s of 1000s of downloads a month. So we’ve got that depth. But it has been a long game. But a long game that’s worth that. It’s like when you think of those early investors in Facebook, and you know, some of us kick ourselves now and go hard. Why didn’t we do it? Well, it’s, you know, it’s not going to give you the same, the same ROI.
But going back to the guesting part, it isn’t necessarily just a once-off that people are hearing you and never again, because the thing with podcasting is it’s evergreen. So people I still I’m getting downloads every single week of just about every single one of my podcasts. So podcasts from back in 2016 2017 are still getting downloaded. So I wanted to clarify that whilst people may only hear you once on my podcast, it goes on and on, and on and on.
Mark (07:03):
It does indeed. And in fact, the tool we mentioned earlier helps to drive people to that evergreen back catalogue content, because it shouldn’t be well that’s old. So let’s only listen to the recent episodes. But now there is another benefit. We talked about the relationship between the guest and the audience, the audience might only hear me once.
But one of the other great things I got from going on all these shows, I know we haven’t talked about how which we’ll get back to is the relationships I have built with the podcast hosts. And what people might not know if you haven’t been a podcast is you’ll typically spend time either before usually after the episode chatting, getting to know the person, and building those relationships.
And it’s a great way to virtually network. I’m not a fan of let’s just go into a room with strangers, even though that’s how you and I met. Generally, I’m not a big fan of those. But now we’ve done something together, we already have something in common. We have some common interests, we want the episode to be successful. And we’re going to talk and probably engage and keep in touch in the future. And we’ll talk about specific ways you can do that. But the relationship-building beyond just what you’re doing with your audience, what you’re doing with other influencers, and other experts, is also a fantastic benefit from being a guest.
Samantha (08:18):
Absolutely. And I think if you are a podcast host, and you’re not taking advantage of this or as well, if you’re not a guest and taking advantage of this, I think that you’re missing out on for me what is the biggest part of this strategy is, I would say, I’m gonna go out on a limb here, 99% of my collaboration partners, I have either been on their podcast, or they’ve been on mine. And that’s actually how we’ve met. Because it like you say it’s those conversations.
But I think what I love about it so much is that it’s not just the conversations afterwards, as you and I talking here. And we’re recording content, which is fabulous because that’s what we need to do as a business owners. I’m also getting to learn your area of expertise. I’m getting to learn about your values, I’m getting to learn about, you know, what sort of sense of humor Do you have or what’s important to you or any of these things? So we’re actually shortcutting the process of getting to know each other while we’re creating content. And then the conversation off the back of this then is a lot deeper than if we had have just had a 15-minute, you know, coffee chat, I guess.
Mark (09:31):
Well said In fact, in my book, I have a chapter on networking, how to network. One of the things I say is interviews. Now I think more than job interview. It’s a great way to network because when you’re in a job interview, you literally get there to sit there and brag about yourself. Because if we just met in some conference go Hey, nice to meet you. So let me tell you, I’ve got all these degrees and here’s the cool things. I’ve done my other jobs. You’re gonna think I’m an egotist. But in interview No, no, it’s okay to show off
And while this isn’t exactly the same type of interview, it’s exactly that. You have me on your say, Mark, share your ideas. Tell me about fascinating, interesting thoughts you have. And I get to show off a little. And then you hopefully think, wow, he’s an interesting guy, and hopefully not he’s completed yet. It’s a good way to fast-track that, as you said. So whether it’s a formal job interview, or maybe an interview with a potential client, or doing something like this, you really do accelerate some of that relationship building because we just go let’s, let’s get right to it and getting to know each other.
Samantha (10:34):
And I know we’ve got off track so much already, which is one of my things. And we will get back to the how in a minute. But what I’d love to know is when you have these conversations with podcast hosts, at the end of the episode, is there some sort of strategy that you use to take the conversation in a certain way about furthering some sort of collaborations or opportunities or, you know, helping each other out?
Mark (10:59):
There is indeed, and this will help steer us back. Because at the end, as we’re chatting, rule, one of networking is when you meet someone think, How can I help you? Now, there’s some bounds on I’m not gonna fly all the way halfway around the world and help you pack up your house and move next week, we just met? Oh, sorry, maybe six months? Right now, we’re not that kind of friend yet. Yeah. But one of the things I asked at the end, so after we turn off the cameras, what you’re going to hear me ask at the end, we’ll give every little preview behind the curtains. Thank you for having me on the podcast. What can I do to help you? And are there other guests who you’re looking for, for your show?
Now, this is an important question and part of two questions you asked at the end. So the first is, what other guests are you looking for on your podcast? And the second question is, do you know any other podcast hosts who might be looking for a guest like me? Now the second one’s kind of obvious, like, Hey, can you refer me it? Presumably, I’ve done a good job. And you think yep, okay, I’ll refer him to some, I can tell you that second question, on average, leads me to at least one additional podcast from the podcast I’ve been on.
Sometimes it’s two or three, sometimes it’s zero. But on average, it’s net positive. But I asked the first question first, for two reasons. One, I’m generally a helpful person to the Rule of Reciprocity, I should offer before I ask, if I’ve offered for you now, you’re more likely to respond to my ask. But there’s an additional benefit that you get from that first question.
When we chat, you’re going to tell me, Oh, you’re looking for these types of people or those types of people. What I have is a set, it’s now up to about two dozen people. These are friends of mine. These are other authors, I know some of the other podcasters other people I know who are looking to go on podcasts, I’ve got a list two dozen people in different categories.
So when you tell me, Well, I’m looking for this type of person, right after we finish our post-call, I’m gonna send you an email, it’s literally a form, I copy-paste. If you haven’t saved as a template, they’ll say thanks for having me on. Here are some of the people I suggested as all 24, I’ll delete the ones that aren’t relevant. And by doing them of having a type each one out, I can delete a few seconds. So in 30 seconds, I will send you a bunch of names. Maybe it’s one, maybe it’s six. And so I’ve been able to help you. I just help three, six other people, friends of mine. And guess what I taught them to do, guess what they’re saying at the end of their podcast, guess how I’m getting on some other shows.
So these two questions at the end, really lead us to a stronger relationship, I’m going to help you, you’re going to help me. And it’s a small start. I haven’t packed up your house yet. But we’ve already started helping each other we can move on to other things. And I’ve helped other people, and I’ve created a network for them to help me. So find a cohort of other coaches, they can be direct competitors, you can only do so many podcasts at once help sway people at once and get each other into the channels that you found.
Samantha (14:18):
Hmm, love this so much. That question, how can I help you? Can I add there’s something else that I do with that question because I also use exactly the same strategy that you’re talking about here.
When the other person that I’m speaking with reciprocates with the same question. They’re the person that I stay in contact with, give more opportunities to introduce them to more people. The people that at the end where I ask how can I help them they ask for five things and then say thanks, see ya bye. And they never share the episode. They’re generally the people that I know that I don’t need to keep in contact with. So I also use it as a way to curate my, my circle of people that I know and provide more opportunities.
And I’ve mentioned to a couple of friends a few times about some of the conversations that happen after we finished recording, and how much I almost think there’s more value after we finished recording. And she said her wish you just kept recording and almost released that that conversation that you had as a separate episode.
Because I’m I’m sure you would agree there’s some pretty magical conversations that happen after the recording ends.
Mark (15:27):
Absolutely can be at times now it can also be and so people wondering, why don’t you do that. It can also be random chatter about kids and other things that probably aren’t so interesting to the audience. But you do get maybe the signal-to-noise ratio is low. But some of those signals, some of them are really valuable.
Samantha (15:47):
I love it so much. Love it. Love it. Love it. All right, let’s circle back to the how once. I mean, people have listened to the context of this and be thinking and are probably thinking, You know what, this is just what I need to hear right now, I do need to get on more podcasts. Where’s the starting point for them?
Mark (16:07):
First thing you need to do is be very clear on your value to the audience. This is step zero, because the biggest mistake I see is someone says, Oh, I’ve got a book. Hey, you, I want to get in front of you and your audience and my book, my book. Oh, are you over there? Here’s my book here about my book. No, forget, focus on what your audience needs.
Why is what you have to say valuable to them. And if you can create good audience value, other things will come. I do not do consulting, or other things that most people with books like mine would do. I am not getting value of Oh, and go hire me to get you on podcast, I don’t have a podcast matching service. I have no direct value. Now get monetized, if you think I’m great, but my belief is if I can add value to you, something good will come in the future, there will be some karma, maybe you will check out my book, which honestly is probably not targeted toward this audience.
But you might check it out for yourself, maybe recommend to a friend, maybe you’ll reach out to me in the future. So focus not on here’s what I need to sell, focus on, here’s the value, I can add him to whom let me find those audiences and deliver that value. So first, make sure you that clear in your head, then what you want to do is save yourself some effort, create a media kit, most podcasters I know, get lots and lots of pitches each week, hey, I’m great because of this, I’m great because of that and do this, and I’ll look at my websites, look at all I’ve done. And we’re saying, do all this work. Trust me, I’m better than the 50 Other people just bothered you this week.
We know when selling no matter what you’re selling, you want to remove objections from your client. We want to make it as easy as possible for you to say, yes, a media kit, whether you’re pitching your book to Wall Street Journal, or whether you’re pitching yourself to be on a podcast, saying let me do the work for you a question you’re going to ask what’s my bio? What’s my social media? Why is this valuable? How should you best interview me what should be the topic for the show? If I can hand that to you? I’ve made that much easier.
And you’re saying I’ve got 17 people look at it spend lots of time trying to figure out who’s best. Or I can spend two minutes because this guy did all the work for me to create that media kit. Let me pause there with those two. So I don’t just monologue for the rest of the episode.
Samantha (18:35):
And I was gonna say, let me jump in here because there’s something really important that you’ve mentioned. And as a host, I really want people to take this away. And that is, as a podcast host, we do get a lot of people pitching to be on the show. And for most of us as podcast hosts, we run a business, this isn’t our full time gig, there are other things to do.
One of the reasons that I got you on the show so quickly was because you did just that in your email is like, hey, we met at this event. I’ve had a quick look at your podcast, I’ve had a look and seen who your audience is. And I think that these three topics could be a fit. And I noticed that one of them you haven’t covered before. Straight away I was just said to my assistant, can you please reach out to mark and get him on the show?
Because all of that work had been done for me, where normally and my assistant and I were just having this meeting last night of all times before. We’re having this conversation of how do we get across to people, they send their pitch. This is our thing. This is what we do. This is all about us. And I’m like have you even looked at the show? Have you even looked that maybe we you know, haven’t covered that 50 times before? I’ve also never met you and I don’t know you I’m madly trying to figure out what it is that you actually do. Like Please can you just tell me so that I can figure out whether this is a good fit or not?
So the way that you did that was really good by going and having a look at the show, you knew who the audience was. And you because you straight away told me, you could, these are three things I could talk about. And they just made it so much easier.
Mark (20:13):
And I suspect many of the audience have heard the advice. When asked, What do you do? Instead of saying, I talk about this, I do this, I solve this problem. Instead, you focus on your audience?
And what will you get out of it? My Services let you sell more widgets, or become better at communicating in your company. What’s the value you get? We know to do this with our customers. And this case, I’m selling to you, I’m selling me to you on behalf of your audience. Here’s the value I will give you. Not me, me, me.
Samantha (20:53):
Hmm, very much. So it’s, you know, when I’m also asking to be another’s podcasts, when people ask what I do, the way that I answer isn’t exactly the way they’ve asked, I always say, the way that I believe I can add value to your audience is, you know, these possibilities, like what do you think? So even though they’ve asked, What do you do, I’ve answered so that it serves them and it makes it easier for them to shoot that cut back conversation.
Mark (21:18):
Very well done. Okay, so we talked about two things, first, focus on the audience. Second, have that media kit, have it all in one place. And by the way, have the nice version, that’s a PDF that you created and will have your image and everything on there, also have a version that’s a cut and paste into a web form. Because some podcasters, they don’t have email addresses, they fill out this form. Now, some of them have a formal application form, and they’ll cut and paste, here’s my bio, here’s my links, here’s whatever.
Some just say, here’s my contact form, just email subject, and then you’ve got a text-only pitch, because you can’t attach things. There are no hyperlinks, so you want a version of it to cut and paste into that. Now I get asked, Do you do cut and paste? And I do for the most part, but it’s not blind. I don’t say, Hey, Bob OBEs. I was Sam, I wrote to
Jason as a couple of blank spots. But I’ll do a few things I used to do when I first started, I was doing the handcrafted emails, and cut and paste is fine. I’ve got my Sarah template, but then I’ll adjust well, for your audience, I think these things matter. And some of that I may have used in other emails, or I might note if we had something in common, or I might put a different aspect of my background in, depending on the pitch. So it’s cut and paste, but a little more adjustable, it’s closer to like a Mr. Potato Head.
Things, customize in a few different ways. And just have all that ready, because you’re gonna be doing it over and over, or your virtual assistant will
Samantha (23:00):
Love it. So we’ve got the topics, we’ve got the media kit, I’d love to know, how do you research? Or do you research other shows? Or have you got onto all of your shows, through introductions from other hosts?
Mark (23:15):
Introductions helped. And obviously, as I’ve grown my own network, I get more in fact, I just had a host email me today and say, Hey, I was on a podcast. Are you still doing them? I talked to him probably over a year ago. I said yes. So he introduced me to the host. But I do a lot of cold outreach.
Now to do this, I do a few things. So first, you can just go to your favorite podcasting channel, find the right word for it, Spotify, Amazon, Google, whatever it is you listen to, and search on a topic. So step one, you can just search on executive leadership, or whatever your topic is. The second thing you can do, is you can use a matchmaking service. I happen to like pod match pod match.com. Disclaimer, I have no financial incentive to recommend them. I don’t get any kickbacks. They cost some 10s of US dollars a month. I haven’t checked their prices lately. And they’ll give you matches every day. It’s like a dating service. But for podcasts and hosts and you can be a host or a guest or both. There’s matchmaker FM is another one. And I tried to make a radio guest list is an email list. There’s a few others.
So you can use a service like that. Now you can also one of the more advanced techniques is to shadow someone is you find someone who looks like you. And you say I wonder what podcasts this person has gone on because if this person’s been on the podcast, I’ll bet they might be interested in me. You can do that either by going to that person’s website. Many of us will list the podcasts we’re on on the website and just be looking every couple of months look back anything new. Okay? I mean to pitch this as well, you can use websites like pod chaser.com pod chaser tries to be the IMDB for podcasts.
Fresh out, what’s every episode you’ve been on, and every guest who has been on your podcast, they’re not as accurate as IMDB. But it’s a start. And so this can help you find people. You can also look at if it’s a podcast you’re interested in, or have been on, who are the other guests, and then stalk them online for where they’ve been.
So this is how you can start to find podcasts. You asked about researching. I, when I started was doing a lot of deep research. And I kind of stopped doing that. What I realized it is kind of a numbers game. And so I will look now I did and you note it, I didn’t just say, Hey, cut and paste have me on because I think from your title to fit, I looked over some prior episodes, I looked at what you talked about, I looked at your website, it took me a couple minutes just to glance through it. And that was enough where I could be a little customer and say I noticed you haven’t done this topic lately. Or you seem to talk about this. And here’s what I could add to the conversation.
I get asked, Do you listen to episodes ahead of time, I don’t do that I will listen to a couple minutes of someone’s episode at halftime just to get a sense of their style. I don’t need to listen to a whole episode. I can kind of get I’ve done enough of these. And really, they’re not that different one to next for most people, you get a sense of what they’re like, you don’t have to invest time, the one catch and I’ll be quiet because I know I’m going on and on.
Samantha (26:37):
No, you’re just adding a lot of value keep going.
Mark (26:39):
The one thing I see on some forums is they will ask what’s your favorite episode? And they’re clearly fishing like prove to me You’re really a fan prove to me you’re listening. And I’m honest, when I say look, I’m not a regular listener. I am someone who talks about this category. I think it’s valuable to your guest. I listened to you a few minutes of this episode.
But if you want someone who’s a regular listener, or is gonna tell you, this is the episode I love. I’m not gonna mislead you. I didn’t do that. And if that’s not a fit, no problem.
Samantha (27:12):
Hmm, I love it so much. And totally agree with everything that you’ve just said there. I think that it is important to have it you know, as a guest, it is important to have a bit of a listen to get the feel. But you can generally get the fuel quite quickly. I just want to know, you know, I’ll give you an example.
There was one I listened to a couple of weeks ago, and in the first, let’s say 90 seconds, there was a lot of profanity. I’m not, you know, I’m not perfect. When I’m at the pub with my friends, there are some some cuss words that come out. I’m definitely not that, you know, a good little girl. But I’m not a fan of it in a professional setting. So for me at that point, I actually personally opted out when I don’t, that doesn’t feel right to me, I know that I would be very uncomfortable sitting there with that.
So I think it is important to have a listen and to get that flow and to get an idea of what that person is like, because it’s amazing how much you can feel that you get to know someone just from hearing their voice and their cadence and the words that they use.
Mark (28:15):
Exactly, you’ll feel that style, you’ll feel the energy level. And if it’s not a fit, that’s fine 100% and recognize that and don’t go off, you’re super high energy and this person’s low energy, hey, maybe it’s not a fit. But you can usually get that within minutes of listening, sometimes even 90 seconds. So you can invest that time, either right before you pitch or after you pitch.
These, I would say again, most podcasts, they really kind of fall into a fairly narrow range, or at least the podcasts that your audience is likely to go on the professional ones about leadership about work about the topics we tend to have, they’re in a relatively narrow range, and you just want a little bit of style, you’re probably not gonna find too many where it’s extreme cursing, or something really out there that might not be comfortable.
Samantha (29:12):
Totally so once you’ve decided that you want to reach out to a host and we’ve talked about, you know, helping out with topics or you know, what, you know, is there any other tips that you’ve got in that reach out of you know, what you cover or how you even reach out to people.
Mark (29:29);
It helps to also mention value you deliver. And so, a few things I mentioned, I’ve been on 300 podcasts, that it wasn’t always mentioning that but even when I got up to I’ve been on a few dozen I’ve been on 50 I’ve been on 100 So first that’s social proof. It says I’m not someone who I’m not going to look at the camera or I’m going to just be lost and scared like a deer in the headlights. It says I’ve been around. I can do this. I’m gonna make it easy for you mentioning your setup.
So sometimes I’ll mention I have a full AV setup, I have lighting, you may want to mention that if you have it, linking to your prior episodes is important. Because even if you haven’t been on 300, even if you’ve only been on one, just saying, Here’s a prior episode, a lot of people do like to hear you just let me make sure you’re not that deer in headlights. You can also I didn’t do this earlier, I may not have even done on the pitch I gave to you mentioned the fact that you promote the episode.
Because remember, it’s a two way street. Yes, I’m coming here, and I’m getting in front of your audience. But you’re hoping to get value as well, even if it’s just the audience saying they like you. But that you’d also like to know I can bring some audience to you. And so what podcasts are sometimes formally asked, but even if they don’t mention it, how will you help promote the episode, at a minimum, you should be promoting it through your channels.
Now that may be promoting the episode on social media, it may be through your email list, it may be on your website. You don’t have to have all of those. But be clear and say I will promote your episode I will help you. So it’s not a one way street where I’m just trying to grab your audience. I’m trying to bring you some of mine and be explicit about that. I also some podcast hosts will ask, Do you have a free giveaway for the audience? What’s something of value, and you want to be explicit? If you have something, I have a free download, I have a free whatever. And so I talked about I have a lot of free resources on my books website. I now talk about the brain bump app as valuable to the audience and to the host. And it’s a way I’m showing I’m providing value to the host and audience.
Samantha (31:45):
Hmm. So good. I’d love you to share a little bit about the brain bump app Exactly. What is it? And how does it work with content creators?
Mark (31:53):
What I realized when I did my book is often you have a book, you read a book, you say there’s great advice, and then you forget it. And the problem is where we read ideas and where we need ideas are separate. And so we’ll forget it by the time we need them. I wanted my audience to retain the content in my book to be useful elsewhere. Now that helps them and that’s my primary goal. But it also helps me because word of mouth marketing doesn’t work if people don’t remember your book I read.
Samantha (32:28):
And let’s be honest, we’re all busy, right? It’s very easy doesn’t mean that someone doesn’t think you’re valuable. It just comes in. It’s just like moving on.
Mark (32:38):
Exactly. Now, as I mentioned, I don’t have anything else to sell. It’s just my book. But many people and me and your audience, I suspect, do you have a higher price point item, you can get someone to buy your book, maybe after a podcast, okay, it’s an interesting, there’s $20. But going from that $20 sale to that $2,000 sale, that’s where you have to increase that brand trust.
And that involves repeated interactions, repeated engagement. And to turns out the solution to helping people retain the content. And solution to building that brand trust is the same. We create an app. It’s like a cross between a flashcard app, a daily affirmation app, and a book summary app. So it takes the key ideas in the book, but also works for blogs, podcasts, talks and classes.
So really, wherever the source is, takes his key ideas, puts them into the app. And then the app user can access it one of two ways. If the app user says, Hey, I’m going to a networking event, and I’ve read that book two months ago and totally forgot it, you pull out that app five minutes before you walk in the room. You can search everything’s tagged, think of like hashtags. They search for networking tips, boom, there you go right in your pocket are all the tips from my book right there when and where my audience needs it.
The other way that they would use it is so might say, I’m a new leader. And there’s a whole bunch of stuff. And I don’t know if I can remember this all. We know spaced repetition works. So what if you could just get a little reminder each day of one of the key ideas. Now here’s the key thing, no one’s going to open an app every day. So we use the apps built in push technology at a time the user sets. So the user can say okay, 9am each day as I walk into the office, I want to get a little leadership tip. It just pops up on the phone like Okay, great idea of swipe, takes two seconds a day, but each day they’re seeing your brand. So they are retaining the content. And they are seeing your brand each day and that helps both parties.
Samantha (34:37):
I love it. That is so cool. So inspiring. Mark, for people that have been listening to this episode, and they want to stay connected because they really have enjoyed what you’re talking about. Where can they find you?
Mark (34:50):
There’s two websites you can go to if you want to learn about the brain bump app, including how you can get your content on it. Go to brain bump app.com and you’ll see where to download at the bottom of the page you’ll see a form you can fill out if you’re interested in being part of this. If you want to learn more about other ideas I have I write articles, other podcasts I’ve been on. You can go to the Cognos go Media website Cogno Seo media.com. And they talk a lot about the future of media and direction that we’re going in. So either of those sites and through Cognos co media, you can contact me so Cognos go media, and also brain bump app.com
Samantha (35:33):
I love it so much. And of course the links for you to stay connected or to connect with Mark will be in the show notes over at influenced by design. podcast.com. Mark, thank you so much for coming onto the show today. It’s been an absolute pleasure to chat with you and you’ve just dropped so many value bombs there’s I’ve taken a lot of notes. And this is something this is a topic I know quite a lot about. So thank you so much for coming and just you know adding so much value.
Mark (35:57):
Thank you for having me on the show.
Samantha Outro (35:59):
Thanks for joining me for this episode of the Influence By Design podcast. If you want more head over to influencebydesignpodcast.com for the show notes and links to today’s gifts and sponsors. And if you’re looking to connect with other experts who are growing and scaling their business to join us in the coaches, thought leaders, and changemakers community on Facebook, the links are waiting for you over at influencebydesignpodcast.com
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