About 70% of my brain power lately has been usurped by thoughts about invitations.

I've been thinking about how to get the right people into the right rooms like it's my job (and I guess it kind of is).

That's because an invitation signals:

• You’ve got something I want to share space with.
• I value your perspective.
• I want you in my presence.
• I know you’re going to bring something to the “party” that will appreciably improve the experience for everyone involved.

My invitation obsession does NOT stem from a deep, abiding love of social hosting (with infinite sorries to my book club, I'd rather guzzle shards of glass), but because being asked to show up somewhere important is something of extraordinary value.

And: a curated list of "the right people" is materially more consequential than whatever comes from an open cattle call.

Hot take incoming...

This quality-over-quantity-ness is true of:

• Podcast audiences.
• ​Accelerators and other cohort-based programs.
• Though many a marketing strategist would vehemently disagree, email lists*
• And, most relevant to this missive: podcast guest lists.

One of the questions I field on a near-daily basis (second only to “what microphone should I buy?”...hit reply and I’ll send my recos) is:

“How do I get invited onto more podcasts?”

And I get the motivation behind the question. I mean, all the value a podcast brings (visibility, relationship-building, sexy clips for your social feeds) with none of the “hassle” of having to carry a whole show of your own.

But the answer is almost never the one people are expecting:

The best way to get invited onto podcasts (aside from being a celebrity fending off a minor scandal) is to host one of your own.

My friend Alex Sanfilippo, founder of PodMatch, shared with me a statistic that made my eyes bulge out of my head like a Looney Toons character:

There are ~47 people seeking podcast guest opportunities for every one podcast host. That's 1 podcast host for every FORTY-SEVEN hopeful podcast guests.

Which helps explain why podcast guesting is now the white-hot center of a burgeoning cottage industry of paid placement services.

These magical conversations between podcast host and guest routinely lead to:

• Partnerships
• Clients
• Referrals
• Speaking engagement invitations (there’s that word again…)
• Business development opportunities
• And to quote the advertising cliche: much, much more...

You can hear (and SEE hello, video podcast debut) all about it in this week’s episode of my podcast, Talking the Talk: How Podcast Conversations Turn Into Opportunities (with Greg Wasserman of RSS.com).

But if you’re a podcaster staring down your double-digit download numbers with some degree of existential concern, I offer this for your consideration:

Twenty downloads from the right audience can be worth infinitely more than twenty thousand from the wrong one.

Just about anyone can make their way into the biggest rooms. It takes strategy, talent, and intention to get into the right rooms.

*Speaking of: if you’re new here, hi! Welcome. You’re in excellent company–I know bc I curated the list myself!

SPEAKING OF INVITATIONS...

For the same reason I care about carefully curated podcast audiences (and newsletter subscribers), I keep my Sounds Great Podcast Launch Accelerator intentionally small: a tightly curated cohort of intentional, motivated, soon-to-be podcasters yields the most remarkable outcomes.

My favorite part is witnessing a handful of smart, generous humans realize they’re not figuring this stuff out alone. The power of co-creation cannot be overstated (see: yours truly in the role of Accelerator director and actor, a la Robert Redford...or pick your more current reference #old).

As Accelerator alumna Maria O’Brien (aka The Woo Ess) put it as she wrapped up my last cohort:

"I learned a ton about podcasting, and and finally manifested the courage to just go for it." Maria O'Brien aka The Woo Ess

If you’re ready to stop thinking about podcasting and start actually podcasting, I’d love to have you in the room.

Last call. We begin next week.

WORKS IN PROGRESS

Debuting episode-specific cover art thanks to model podcast guest Greg Wasserman (who took it upon himself to create + deliver to me instead of the customary vice versa). Weeping at milestones like my 8th grader's final middle school chorus concert. Posting about LinkedIn on YouTube and Instagram (and of course, LinkedIn). Hiring a pragmatic yin biz advisor to my shiny-object-obsessed yang biz operator. Meeting my fellow hot-take-makingHospitality Creator Summit stage takers. Upping my fiber intake (hello kale everything, my old friend). Feeling my Craft + Commerce butterflies shift into Craft + Commerce social anxiety (speaking of invitations, I'm happily accepting them for Boise...). Trying out a cornucopia of podcast editors so I have a good bench to refer my Accelerants and clients to...