Highlights, Takeaways & Quick Wins:

Most people who want to be contacted will make it pretty easy for you to contact them.
It’s important to have a good reason when asking for someone’s time.
People make time for the things they care about, so make sure that you are offering something they want.
Don’t be afraid to ask. You’ll never get a yes if you don’t ask.
Always be looking out for people who share your passion. Those are the people you should be podcasting with.

Finding Guests: First, Keep Your Audience In Mind
When it comes to finding guests for your show, your first goal should be to provide something interesting to your audience. Put yourself in their shoes; what topics are they interested in hearing about? Try to find people who have interesting things to say about those topics.
Who’s Out There Already Trying to Build an Audience?
If you don’t already have someone in mind (if you’re looking for interesting new people to talk to), try to find people who are already trying to grow an audience online. These people will be actively putting out content and engaging on social media. They’re most likely to be happy for an opportunity to talk about what they’re passionate about.
You Have to Ask
The next step is to reach out. There are many different ways to do this, but a safe bet is to choose the place that they seem most active. If they’re a hardcore Twitter user, reach out there. If they’re into Snapchat, hit them up there. Lots of people have a contact page on their website, often with an email address.
Most people who want to be contacted will make it pretty easy for you to contact them.
If you can’t find contact info for someone, it might be because they aren’t interested in being contacted by strange people asking them to come on a podcast.
Ask Yourself: Why Do I Want to Talk to This Person?
Before you reach out to these people, you need to write down why you are interested in talking to this person.

Did they publish a really great book or article lately?
Have them been consistently sharing great ideas online?
Is it someone you know in person who has a lot of great things to say, but they’ve never had a platform to say them on?
Do they work on products that you love?

It’s important to have a good reason when asking for someone’s time.
Email Template for Reaching Out to Guests

Start by proving you’re a real human who is familiar with their work. You don’t have to know everything about them, but you should at least have listened to a few of their podcasts or read a few of their blog posts.
Tell them which thing they did that you like and why. Don’t say “all the great shows”. Be specific.
Tell them what you’d like to talk to them about on your podcast. It’s ok to ask them if there’s anything they’d like to talk about as well, but you should lead by explaining why you want them specifically on your show.
Briefly give them any other important information, like the length of your podcast and what they’ll need to show up with. Don’t make them guess; tell them how much of their time you want and if they’ll need to record a local audio file (always a good idea).
Suggest a calendar date but make sure they know you’re flexible to meet their schedule (hopefully you are).
Don’t assume they are going to say yes. This is bad. Don’t assume people will say yes, ever.
Thank them for their time and let them know that you’re looking forward to hearing back from them.

Overcoming Objections:
I do believe that when people say “No”, you should respect that, but I want to talk about some of the common objections you might hear and how you can overcome or at least understand them.
**1. “I’m too busy” or “I don’t have time.” **
This is something you need to look into. Are they really busy? Have they committed to a large project at work? Are they writing a book?
The real problem may be that your offer wasn’t attractive enough to them.
You should have something to offer that they are interested in, whether that’s exposure to your audience, a