OutsourceSchool

CHEAT SHEET

PODCAST SOP
FOR YOUR VA
START TO FINISH
Copyright 2020 Outsource School LLC. All rights reserved.
 Welcome to the SOP on having a VA handling your podcasting start to finish. This is for people
who want to have one VA handle everything. While we use a mix of a few different virtual assistants
it is possible to have one virtual assistant handle all aspects of the podcast. If you or your VA has
any questions as they go through this just email Support@OutsourceSchool.Com.

Please note to teach the VA how to do bookings and how to use mail merge we reference the
Calendar Management Playbook and the Lead Generation formula. We recommend having your
VA go through the Calendar Management Playbook which will teach them all about how to book
podcasts. For the Lead Generation formula there is just one cheat sheet that teaches
them bulk emailing with mail merge (optional).

The inbox management playbook is also good but not 100% necessary.
Before Your Virtual Assistant Gets Started They Will Need:

1. Information about you and your business

2. Information on your customer avatar
3. Information on the types of Podcasts you want to go on (Amazon selling podcasts, digital marketing
podcasts, hiking podcasts etc)
4. Login or access to your Email Account/Calendar or at least their own email attached to Your Calen-
dar
a) A filled out cheat sheet from the Calendar Management Playbook
5. Access to A Standard Pitch Template
a) We recommend giving them a full document with all your information.
Sample: www.systems.outsourceschool.com/courses/take/podcast-out-
reach-formula/pdfs/11793942-podcast-info-sample-pitch-pdf
6. Access to Any Social Media Channels You Want them To Promote On (We do not recommend giving
your VA access to your personal Linkedin or Facebook)
7. Optional (A One Pager) See Example: Podcast One Pager

Let's break this down into a few different parts.

1. Research
2. Creating the Pitch For Each Podcast/ Pitching Each Podcast
3. Follow Up with Podcasts That Don’t Respond
4. Scheduling the Podcast For Hosts That Respond
a) Rescheduling Podcasts If Necessary
5. Email Podcast Host Post Podcast Email
6. Record Podcast Into a Podcast Tracking Document
7. Promote Podcast On Social Media

From this part forward we are going to be talking as if we are talking to your virtual assistant.

If you are the virtual assistant reading this welcome to Outsource School! Great to have you and we are
here to support you along the way. Please email any questions tosupport@outsourceschool.com.
There will be parts here that you will need to ask your client for and other parts that you just need to
remind your client to do something. We want to make this as easy as possible for you to handle podcast-
ing start to finish for your client. If anything is not clear we can always update this document for you so
please let us know. We recommend reviewing the section above, making sure you have all that informa-
tion from your client and now we will go over the steps 1 by 1.

Lastly we recommend taking the Podcast Outreach Formula and Calendar Management Playbook com-
pletely before starting on the steps below. Ask your clients for access. Learning mail merge from the
lead generation formula is also optional.

The goal here is to get your client on as many good podcasts as possible. By good we mean podcasts
that are going to still be around in 5 years, have listeners that match your client’s client and that are as
big (well known) as possible.
Remember to avoid podcasts that don’t have guests, have stopped filming episodes or that don’t fit your
clients criteria for stats or audience.

Research

We will start with two types of research we do for podcasts. Your client might already have a list of
podcasts for you or have a different way they want you to do podcast research. They might also provide
you with a directory of podcast or some other online list for you to vet the podcasts.

Make sure before you start this section you have:

1. Information about your clients business

a) Make sure you really understand your clients business. Ask them any questions you have
2. Information on your clients ideal customer
a) This is important you understand so you can find podcasts their ideal customer listens to. Again ask
if you have questions before moving on.
3. Information on the types of Podcasts your client wants to go on (Amazon selling podcasts, digital mar-
keting podcasts, hiking podcasts etc)
a) Look up past podcasts they have been on
b) Ask if you have questions. You will work together to get even more clear over time.
4. Which method or multiple methods your client wants you to do research on
a) Important People Method
b) Itunes Method
c) Client List
d) Other Directory
5. The metrics your client wants to use to decide on whether a podcast is a good fit (Number of down-
loads, number of reviews, number of episodes) etc.
a) We recommend not getting your clients on podcast with less than 50-100 episodes
6. A Schedule and or the number of hours per day or per week you should be working
a) Also how often the client wants you to check in with them for feedback
b) When you work make sure you let your client know when you start and stop working
c) Let your client know when you have questions
d) Let your client know when you have a list for them to review
e) Let your client know when you run into any issues

Steps to Follow:

1. Watch the Training Section of The Podcast Outreach Formula and Grab Each Cheat Sheet
2. Get the information above from your client
a) Ask Your Client Which Method They Want You to Use (If They already Have a List for you that has
already been vetted skip to creating the Pitch)
3. Proceed doing the research your client has assigned and checking in with your client for feedback as
you guys agreed to above
4. Once You have a list of podcasts to pitch move to the next section
Creating the Pitch For Each Podcast/ Pitching Each Podcast

There are two different types of pitches

1. Custom Pitch For Each Podcasts
2. One Standard Pitch For Each Podcast

Personally I do not customize podcast pitches. I send the same pitch to every Podcast I pitch unless it is
a really big podcast. You can find a sample of the Podcast Pitch I use at the end of this document:
https://connor-s-school-483c.thinkific.com/courses/take/pod-
cast-outreach-formula/pdfs/11793942-podcast-info-sample-pitch-pdf. If you are just doing number 2
make sure you get a pitch from your client or create one following my format for them to approve. It
should include:

Subject: Podcast Pitch - Their Name

A little about them (3-5 bullet points)
Where they have been interviewed before (top 3-5 places)
Interview talking points (top 3-5)

If your client asks you to customize each pitch for each podcast you can use the same format but

1. Listen to an episode or two of the podcast and add a sentence at the top saying you loved the epi-
sode and why
Example: “I listened to episode x with y about digital marketing. I thought his facebook ad tactics were
very interesting and different then what you usually hear about.
2. Change Interview Talking Points to Why your client is a good fit for this particular podcast. Try to
make it fit the theme and style of the show.
Example: “I think your audience could also benefit from the email marketing tactics my client teaches. It
could go along well with the email tactics from thar episode.”

** You need to find out from your client if you are going to pretend to be the client (Not recommended by us)
or act as their VA. If you are pretending to be the client make sure all emails and pitches seem like they are
coming from the client. If you are not pretending to be the client start all pitches with. Hi my name is X I am
the podcast booking assistant for Y. Would love to see if my client is a good fit for your show.

Next: As you are doing research on podcasts you should be looking for the following:

1. Email - If you find the shows email address send them a podcast pitch via email like the sample below.
2. Contact Form - Fill it out and submit just like email. You can attach the one sheet if it is an option

3. Some guests might have a custom application form on their website. If they do fill it out using the
information your client provided you. Sample page 3: https://systems.outsourceschool.com/cours-
es/take/podcast-outreach-formula/pdfs/11793942-podcast-info-sample-pitch-pdf. If you are missing
information ask your client for it and update your records so you don’t need to ask them the same
question in the future.

4. If the podcast has none of the first three, find their social media pages and send them a quick mes-
sage “Hey I am looking to apply to be on your podcast, what is the best way to do that?” Or “ My
name is X I am the podcast booking assistant to Y and I am looking to apply to have her on the pod-
cast. What is the best way to do that?”

***Always only do one of these 4 to start. We recommend application or email. If they have an application that is
usually what they want you to do, if you email them they might just ask you to fill out the application. If they don’t
respond within 2 weeks (Use our cheat sheet to keep track of this, you can send a follow up message to another
channel).

*** For applications make sure you use the email you have access to so you can see the response. For emails
make sure you send it from the email address you are using for all podcast responses. Make sure you are checking
and responding to all responses. You can also review our inbox management playbook to understand how to
handle an inbox at a high level (ask client for access). If your client is an Outsource School Insider it is included.
If not it can be purchased by them for $97 www.outsourceschool.com/shop

See examples below. Note that your client might send you booking links to schedule podcast and
you might also interact with the VA of the podcast host. If you need anymore examples email
support@outsourceschool.com
*** We recommend watching this video to better understand: https://systems.outsourceschool.com/cours-
es/take/podcast-outreach-formula/lessons/11784969-having-your-podcast-va-send-the-pitches

If you are using email and a standard pitch for all podcast you can also gather all emails and put
them into yet another mail merge. You can then send all the emails out in bulk instead of one by
one. Ask your client if they want you sending emails one by one or doing them in bulk.

To Lead How to Do this go to the Mail Merge Tab Here: Lead Generation SOP (Downloadable file). If
your client is not an Outsource School Insider or has not bought The Lead Generation Formula just
email support@outsourceschool.com and we will send you this doc.

Follow Up with Podcasts That Don’t Respond

1. We recommend 2 follow ups for each podcast at least 2 weeks apart

2. We recommend using a different channel if possible then the original channel

A short message will usually do. Here are a few examples:

1. “Just wanted to follow up and make sure you got my application to be on your podcast. It came from
email X”
2. Hi my name is x and I am the podcast booking agent from client y. I wanted to follow up because I
sent over information on why my client would be a great fit for the podcast. I sent it on X date. I just
want to make sure you received it. Happy to provide any other information needed.”

If this doesn’t work we recommend waiting 6 months and sending the original podcast pitch again, a
slightly different pitch or asking your client to personally reach out to them on social media. Ask your
client what they prefer.

Scheduling the Podcast For Hosts That Respond/ Rescheduling Podcasts If Necessary

1. Use the calendar management playbook here. If your client is an Outsource School Insider it is includ-
ed. If not it can be purchased by them for $97 www.outsourceschool.com/shop
a) We recommend following the calendar management playbook. Get your client to fill out their ideal
schedule and get set up with all inboxes/ calendars you need.
2. Find out from your client how many max podcasts they want to have a day and when in the day they
want the podcasts scheduled. Sometimes a podcast host will only do podcasts at a specific date and
time that doesn’t match what your client likes. When that happens ask for your client’s approval
before scheduling it.

** Rule of thumb. Do not reschedule a podcast for your client more than once. If the host reschedules a
few times that is fine, but if your client reschedules multiple times on a podcast host they might decide
not to interview your client. Trust me I learned this the hard way :). Always tell your client if they are
asking you to reschedule a podcast you have already rescheduled once.

** Keep email chains as short as possible. Try to get the hosts everything they need in as few emails as
possible. Make scheduling email for the host.
** Getting a booking link for your client can help but usually you should be prepared to schedule on the
host’s booking link. If the host doesn’t have a link, offer up your client’s link, if they don’t want to do that
schedule manually (See best practices for this in the calendar management playbook). Example of a clients
link: https://calendly.com/nathanhirschos/recording Example of a podcast host’s booking link: https://w-
ww.scheduleyou.in/4wfBJatEJ or Http://bit.ly/podcast-recording-schedule. Notice client’s links will ask ques-
tions that you must answer with accurate information.

1. Once your client has gone on the podcast (you can follow this daily in their calendar)send the pod-
cast host a post podcast email to the host within 24-48 hours). This email thanks them for having
your client and gets them links to include with the episode. Ask your client to help you make this.
You can find a sample of the email here (Page 9): https://systems.outsourceschool.com/cours-
es/take/podcast-outreach-formula/pdfs/11793747-nailing-the-interview-cheat-sheet-pdf
a) Create a template like this so that you can easily send it after each podcast
2. Add the Podcast to The Podcast Tracking Document. Here is a sample: https://docs.goo-
gle.com/spreadsheets/d/1CUtvZNDHypmwla9iB4TymDIONa4WVTWUJRp1UbHHies/edit#gid=0
a) Fill in the information you have so far like the date of podcast, podcast name etc.
b) When the podcast emails you letting you know the podcast is live fill in the rest
c) Once a month do a run through of this sheet googling if any shows went live without emailing you
and following up with any that have not gone live yet asking for an air date.
d) This document is low priority just make sure it is updated by the end of every week. If you run
into issues getting info for a podcast tell your client who might be able to help follow up with the
host or find the info easily.

Promote Podcast On Social Media

1. Make sure you get access to all social media channels your client wants you to post on
2. Talk to your client about how many times a podcast should be promoted. We recommend 3 times
on each channel, spread out over a few weeks. Try to post in the middle of the day.
3. Podcast’s will email you graphics and sometimes video clips to use to promote. Use these whenever
possible
4. Tag the podcast host and/or the podcast’s social media channels in your post. You can find the
host’s social media links on the podcasts main website. You might not be able to find some but
most good podcasts have social media channels.
5. Let your client know when you make a post so they can share it to any channels only they have
access to. If you have access to all channels skip this step.
6. See samples below of social media posts. You will see the host will promote as well. When they do
you can reshare and comment on those posts using your client’s accounts.
Conclusion: Our goal is to make this SOP as easy to use as possible for you. I know there is a lot of info
here but it is really repetitive. After you do 5-10 podcasts you will get it. Its the same for every podcast.
Like any SOP we are always updating it and trying to make it better. Please let us know what you
thought of this SOP and how we can make it better by emailing: Support@outsourceschool.com.

On a side note we strongly recommend going through

1. The podcast Outreach Formula (go through in full)
2. The Calendar Management Playbook (go through in full)
3. The Inbox Management Playbook (Optional but good to take)
4. The Lead Generation Formula (Just one section, optional)

Putting all 4 of these together with make you a rockstar at handling podcasts for your client start to
finish and help you create a great long term relationship. Again Outsource School is here for you just
like we are for your client. Feel free to reach out :) Our goal is to create a win win where your client
loves your work, giving you lots of hours and your client gets on lots of great podcasts.

Important reminders:
1. Make sure the podcast has guests and fits the criteria of your client
2. Keep the documents and cheat sheets organized and updated. This will make everything easier.
3. Ask if you have questions
4. Ask your client for feedback especially in the first few weeks.
5. Be really nice to all podcast hosts no matter how they respond to you. The nicer the better. Add fluff
like “I hope you are having a great day” or “Thanks so much! Have a great weekend”