Hey ,

Welcome to Day 4 of your 1KS Roadmap. Today we're talking OPAs, aka Other People's Audiences and how to…

→ get on podcasts
→ get into publications and/or blog posts

Why? Because using other people’s audiences (OPAs) works.

#1 GETTING ON PODCASTS

You don't have to be a well known author or successful entrepreneur to get on podcasts.

I'm proof as I've benefitted from this strategy first-hand. With only a few thousand Twitter followers and less than 6 months of producing a newsletter, I was asked to join the guys at on the HTML All The Things podcast.

And it worked great!

I gained a whole bunch of new subscribers by going on their pod speaking to an audience of web developers and coders rather than my usual audience of creators and marketers. I framed the discussion as how web devs and makers can build their personal brands online to promote themselves and their products.

We’d all love for podcasts and media outlets to reach out to us, but it’s not likely to happen as we're starting our newsletter journey.

So we have to do our own outreach. Here are 2 ways:

OPTION A: COLD/WARM OUTREACH

Find podcasts to reach out to yourself. Do a Google search, Twitter search, or Spotify search for keywords in your industry.

Chances are most podcasts you find will be smaller and more open to a pitch. Maybe you even know a few people on social media you've established some kind of relationship with to make this less of a "cold" outreach. More rapport created, better chances of getting some airtime with them :)

Jay Acunzo hosts the Unthinkable Show podcast. He gets A LOT of pitches—most of which are… not great.

Here's his advice on how to pitch a show: (read on Twitter)

3 obvious but overlooked things when pitching a show via Jay Acunzo:

1) Podcasters want to book someone with a POV. Everyone pitching a host is "successful." Not everyone is INTERESTING. Develop your ideas + stories publicly. Build a platform (of ideas, of audience). That is the real work. Guest appearances become the byproduct.

2) Don't pitch yourself. Pitch how you'd help the podcaster explore something their show has missed so far. Forget your topics + bio. How do you advance THEIR cause?

3) Every pitch is generic: successful person succeeded! Instead, LISTEN to the show, then try this...

• Identify their premise/angle across the show
• Pitch an idea or story they haven’t told yet, or much, or recently
• Frame it as you helping them further their exploration.
• NOT topics or categories. 1-2 SPECIFIC ideas, in a few sentences.

Jay's Pitch Template:

[Subject:] Your exploration of [key show topic] on the show

Hey Jay,

I know you explore the idea of creativity on Unthinkable, and specifically resonance. That seems to be your angle for now or maybe premise overall. I really love that, but also noticed something and had a quick idea.

The stories you've told seem to be all SMBs or indie creators/freelancers. I was thinking an episode or two about how people create resonant work while working THROUGH or WITH lots of other people might round out the exploration.

For instance, I work for a massive brand [detail, detail, detail] and for years we struggled with [detail, detail, detail]. But recently, I think I've figured out how to resonate with our wo0rk even despite the red tape. [detail, detail, detail]

I'd love the chance to come on the show and share this story and what I've learned (and where things went wrong, too). Maybe the angle is about big corporations + resonance, or how to work with a big team to create something resonant. I'm not sure, but if there's something in here, would you be open to an interview or even pre-interview call?

I thought this might be something missing so far from the show that would bring a lot of value to your exploration.

Thanks for all you do!
-[your name]

PS: If you wanted to learn more about the basics like my bio, here's my LinkedIn/personal site...

OPTION B: PODCAST BOOKING "MARKETPLACES"

Use one of the platforms below to try and connect with relevant podcasts. Some of these are pay-to-play, but between free options and a small budget, you should be able to find a few podcasts to pitch!

• ​Podmatch​
• ​Matchmaker.fm​
• ​PodcastHawk​
• ​Podcastguests.com​

Use Jay's template above and tweak it accordingly for the podcast you're pitching.

#2 GUEST POST ARTICLES

Similar to the podcast strategy above, seek out relevant blogs, media outlets or even other newsletters you could ask to do a guest post for.

I was able to connect with The Tilt and get an article written for them.

While I didn’t see a big spike in subscriber count—it did get the attention of Mark Schaefer. Mark is a well-known marketing expert who had strong opinions with my article. He tore my post to bits. I couldn’t have been happier. Any press is good press!

Via Neil Patel's Guide to Guest Blogging, here are some key factors to consider when finding blogs to guest post on:

Neil recommends you look for blogs that fit the following 4 criteria:

1. the content is focused on your niche/industry
2. the audience of the blog will be interested in your industry
3. the blog has engaged readership (posts have been shared socially and commented upon)
4. the blog owner is active on social media (so you know that they will be promoting your work on their site)

Ways to find blogs to guest post on? Google :) Neil suggests using the following types of searches. Just replace keyword with keywords from your industry.

• keyword “submit a guest post”
• keyword “guest post”
• keyword “guest post by”
• keyword “accepting guest posts”
• keyword “guest post guidelines”

MAJOR CONSIDERATION

You'll want to ensure you're permitted to link out to your website and/or newsletter in the article. Some publications may have restrictions. Some may not permit it at all while others will gladly allow you to add your Twitter bio, newsletter link and website. Just be mindful of the restrictions when arranging details surrounding the guest post.
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*BONUS OPA STRATEGY* Get Listed in Complementary Newsletters

This strategy is less "in your control" but something that's worked out well for me and for others as well.

Here’s how I grew my newsletter audience by getting featured in some bigger newsletters—WITHOUT asking.

1. I found & followed bigger newsletter accounts on Twitter that had similar audiences and content as mine.
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2. I engaged with them on Twitter by replying to their tweets. AND I would always share my newsletter whenever they’d tweet “What are you working on?” or "Promote your work!" (You can set up tweet notifications for accounts who you'd like to do this for.)
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3. I would feature their content in my newsletter. Once published, I’d tweet about it and tag them. Sometimes I’d get no engagement. Other times I’d get a favorite and a reply. Once in a while, I’d get a retweet. On a rare occasion, a Quote Retweet.

This strategy got me in front of Josh Spector's Twitter audience and 18,000 email list. Following this strategy resulted in...

1. Josh Spector started following me on Twitter.
2. Then I noticed he "liked" tweets promoting my weekly newsletter.
3. Then I noticed he subscribed to my newsletter.
4. Then I noticed he featured one of my curated links in his newsletter—and gave me credit with a link!

The result of his unpaid & unprompted promotion has easily exceeded the 100 subscriber mark for the various times he's shared my links.

Will this always work for everyone? No, of course not. But if you can provide value and genuinely interact and engage with larger accounts by being helpful and offering a unique point of view (ie. your own experience), you'll have a much better chance at getting their attention—and hopefully the attention of their subscribers ;)

See you for the final section of the 1KS Roadmap!

TOMORROW

In our final installment, we're going to talk all things Lead Magnets 🧲 — can't wait!

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