Networking over Pitching: The Smart Podcast Strategy

0:00 Maybe you're tired and not thinking clearly, but there is a big difference between networking and pitching. This is going to be a small lesson with big value. My friend is Steve Stewart.

0:44 I affectionately refer to him as the king of the podcast editors. He runs a school that teaches people how to edit podcast. He has a free Facebook Growth, and he just posted something. And I'm like, that's this week's episode. So think about this. There are at least a 1000 people in this Facebook Growth. And with very strict rules, this is not about how to grow a podcast. This is not about how to launch a podcast. This is where podcast editors talk about how to make better audio, maybe some video tools, but it is for podcast editors. And he said it's amazing how many podcast editors join his Facebook group and then promote, you guessed it, their podcast editing services.

1:38 So this is like a doctor going into a bunch of doctors and going, hey. I can help you guys write prescriptions and make yourself feel better and ease your aches and pains, and they're all going, yeah. So it's so weird because I see so many people that do this, and it's in places like Facebook Growth, Reddit. It could be Quora. It could be in LinkedIn Groups. And here's the thing when it comes to an open pitch. You have to know who you are talking to. And in the case of a podcast editor, he might wanna go into a general podcast group that talks about podcasting for the actual creators who are tired of creating, and they need someone to take that editing off their plate. Now you always want to check the terms and the rules of every Facebook group because almost all of them say no self promotion.

2:49 And so what you wanna do is there ways you can do this where you can answer a question and you can say things like, I was working with one of my editing clients, and we had a similar situation. Now you didn't say the name of your your service, anything, but you let people know I'm an editor. And then if you answer a question that delivers value, they people will click on your name and go, oh, there's a link to his stuff. And so what you wanna do in a group that is filled with people that do the same thing you do is network. And I realize sometimes we all kind of fall into the kind of old radio type of mentality where, well, I don't wanna like, that guy is my competition. She could take my customers well. But who else can you totally nerd out with about, in this case, podcast editing? Don't miss that opportunity. Some of my best friends are, if we could put up quotation marks here, my competition. And we all just come from an abundance mindset that there's enough clients for you and enough clients for you and enough clients for me. But the other thing I wanna talk about is when you go into a group filled with people that do the same thing you do and you pitch yourself yeah, remember how they always say there's only one first impression? And your first one was not

4:22 good because, a, it proves that you didn't read the rules, and, b, you're not there to help the community. You're there for you. And so just read the rules. If you have any question, contact the administrators, but realize you have to figure out who is my target audience, and that is typically not people who do the same thing you do. Because if you're trying to solve a problem, they probably know how to solve the problem because they do the same thing you do. And it just makes you look silly, And I'm here to make sure you don't look silly. There are other ways to grow your show. I have a whole course on that at The School of Podcasting. If you need help, just join me over there at school of podcasting.com/consultant.

5:14 Consultant save you on either a monthly or yearly subscription, and, of course, you can join worry free with a 30 day, not 7, not 14 a 30 day money back guarantee I'm Dave Jackson I help podcasters It's what I do, and I'd love to see what we can do together when you go to schoolofpodcasting.com /consultant consultant.