The person you most want as a client is going to ignore your next three emails.
Ask that same person onto your podcast, and they’ll give you 45 minutes of undivided attention, on the record, and thank you for it afterwards.
There’s a version of that which isn’t a trap.
Back in January I put out an episode called “Why Guest Interview Based B2B Podcasts Don’t Work.” I’m not taking a word of it back. But I did leave a door open — interviews should support your strategy rather than be your strategy — and there is exactly one use of a guest that genuinely does that.
Almost nobody does it, because a load of people tried it in 2020 and did it so appallingly that the whole idea now smells.
I’m Neal Veglio, and in this episode of B2B Podcasting Insights I take the Trojan Horse apart — the move from Stephen Woessner’s Profitable Podcasting that B2B LinkedIn spent five years ruining — and show you what’s left when you remove the one thing that made it rot.
We look at the three questions that decide who to ask, why the household name is the wrong booking and her head of content is the right one, the five rules that stop a recording turning into a sales ambush, and where the deal actually gets raised. Because it isn’t where you think, and it isn’t by you.
There’s also a simple test you can run on any name on your guest list right now: if this person never buys a thing from me and never refers anybody, will I still be glad I made this episode? If that’s a no, you haven’t got a podcast. You’ve got a lead magnet with a microphone.
Plus a Founder FAQ from Yusuf in Sheffield on whether transcripts are actually worth publishing, and a quick tip about the dead logo sitting in your email signature.
Timestamped Summary:
00:00 The prospect who ignores your emails
00:43 Welcome to B2B Podcasting Insights
01:02 The January episode — why guest interviews don’t work
02:07 All of that still stands, but I left a door open
02:52 Profitable Podcasting and the Trojan Horse
03:29 The bit everybody skipped
04:20 How the Dream 25 became the Dream 2,500
05:09 A flat-pack horse from IKEA
05:31 It isn’t the invitation, it’s the deception
06:06 The three questions before anybody gets an invite
07:18 Don’t book Janet, book Janet’s head of content
08:33 Three or four a quarter, chosen deliberately
09:41 The case study I haven’t got
10:03 Three hosts who invited me on, and became clients
11:28 The five rules, starting with disclosure
13:30 Publish it like it actually matters 14:35 If a deal comes, it comes from them
15:11 Open the door and tell them what’s inside
15:57 Founder FAQ: is a transcript actually worth it?
17:52 Quick tip: the podcast badge in your email signature
18:40 The invitation email and the Growth Diagnostic
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The ‘January episode’ mentioned in this podcast.
(click the image to go to the episode)
