B.O.O.S.T. Podcast
B.O.O.S.T. Podcast
Elevate Your Brand, Expand Your Influence: Jessica Rhodes | EP157
Want to turn your expertise into real business growth? In this episode, I chat with Jessica Rhodes, founder of Interview Connections—the first podcast booking agency that has helped entrepreneurs land over 30,000 interviews.
Jessica reveals the secrets to building brand authority, making genuine connections, and maximizing the impact of every podcast appearance. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, expert, or thought leader, this conversation will change the way you think about podcast guesting and its power to transform businesses and lives.
Tune in now—this is an episode you won’t want to miss!
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-rhodes-9a291020/
Website: https://interviewconnections.com/
FREE Resource: Podcast Interviews Made Easy: A Comprehensive Guide from Top Booking Agency
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To maximize the impact of your podcast interviews, you need to actually share the interviews with your audience, put them on your social media, share them with your email list, you know, text it out to your email list if you do SMS. Um, I send podcast appearances to prospective clients before they have a consultation call with our team. Like, use these interviews, like leverage them, use them in so many different ways, repurpose them into written content. So that is really how you can maximize the impact is actually using this amazing content.
Kelly Leonard:That was Jessica Rhodes. As founder of Interview Connections, the first podcast booking agency, Jessica and her team have booked more than 30,000 interviews, helping entrepreneurs grow through genuine connections to generate millions in sales and to transform lives. In this episode, Jessica helps to build your brand. I'm Kelly Leonard, and this is the Boost Podcast.
Announcer:Welcome to the Boost Podcast, the podcast created to ignite your business and career potential. Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur, launching your entrepreneurial journey, an established business leader, or early career professional, we've got you covered. In each episode, host Kelly Leonard and her guests dive into one aspect of Kelly's Signature Boost Framework, ensuring you get practical, actionable insights, tips, and takeaways to build your brand, optimize relationships, obtain more leads, secure thought leadership space, and tap into new markets. Get ready for bite-sized power-packed interviews with entrepreneurs and business leaders. Greatness awaits you. So let's boost together. And now, here's Kelly Leonard.
Kelly Leonard:Hey Jessica, welcome to the Boost Podcast. Hey, thanks for having me. So, for those folks who are hearing your name for the very first time, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Jessica Rhodes:Yeah, I am the founder and co-owner of Interview Connections. We're the first ever podcast booking agency. So over the last 12 years, I've dedicated my professional life to helping entrepreneurs be seen and heard on podcasts so they can reach their target market and stop being the best kept secret. I'm also a mom. I've got two kids, ages nine and twelve, and I live in Rhode Island.
Kelly Leonard:Wow. Fun ages, fun ages. Awesome. So you've been doing this work for a little while, and I know you've helped countless entrepreneurs and business leaders build their brand through podcast guesting. Um, what steps should someone take um to really lay a strong foundation for their podcast guesting strategy?
Jessica Rhodes:Yeah, I'm so glad that you asked me this because a lot of people are like, ooh, podcast, I'm just gonna do podcasts, but they have no strategy in place, and then they wonder or they think, oh, it just doesn't work for me. And so it's all about the foundation that you lay in the beginning. So the first thing is set a clear goal. Why are you doing this? Are you wanting leads, sales, build your SEO, get content, network? Like there's so many benefits from podcasts, but you have to know what your goal is, and that's gonna determine what types of shows you're on. What are you being interviewed about? Next, create a podcast one sheet. The podcast one sheet is what's gonna give that host an idea of what you want to be asked. What topics can you be interviewed about? Because, you know, we can all be interviewed about a lot of different things, but certain topics are gonna be better for our business than others. So create a one sheet so you're really clear, and then write some show criteria. Like what would make a podcast a good fit for you to be a guest on? Again, there's a lot of different shows that I could be a guest on. Some are gonna benefit my business more than others. So having a clear idea about what would make a podcast a really good fit for me and my business than others is gonna help make sure that the strategy pays off in the long run.
Kelly Leonard:Nice, nice. So I love that. It's sort of the begin with the end in mind, right? Exactly. And so once an individual has this strategy in place, let's talk about what it looks like to maximize impact. So, how essentially can entrepreneurs and small business owners maximize the impact of their podcast interviews to ensure that they're effectively reaching and resonating with their target audience?
Jessica Rhodes:Yeah. So, number one, make sure you see the value in these actual interviews. Cause a lot of people think I'm gonna get on podcasts and I'm gonna get visibility 100%. Like this is gonna be heard by a lot of people. But to maximize the impact of your podcast interviews, you need to actually share the interviews with your audience, put them on your social media, share them with your email list, you know, text it out to your email list if you do SMS. Um, I send podcast appearances to prospective clients before they have a consultation call with our team. Like, use these interviews, like leverage them, use them in so many different ways, repurpose them into written content. So that is really how you can maximize the impact is actually using this amazing content.
Kelly Leonard:I really appreciate uh I'm laughing in the background because our sound engineer, Claude, is like, amen, share, share. But yes, I and I was gonna ditto that because I find oftentimes folks are so interested in being on a podcast, but they leave the onus to the interview, so the owner of the podcast to do all the advertising. And so I definitely appreciate what you're sharing around, okay, figure out your strategy around repurposing, get it out, share it, et cetera.
Jessica Rhodes:Yes, absolutely. Think about it this way you're co-creating this podcast episode. Yes, we have Claude here doing the sound engineering, you know, we have Kelly here hosting the show, but I'm here as the guest. Like we're all working together on this.
Kelly Leonard:Absolutely, absolutely. So, what are some things to keep in mind? I know you alluded to like share, share, share, but like what when you think of, because I'm imagining most podcast strategies are attached to some larger business strategy. So even when you think about sharing, like what are some of the things that folks should be thinking about in their share strategy, so to speak?
Jessica Rhodes:Yeah, well, I mean, number one, it starts like the moment you get booked on a podcast. I recommend like do a post on your Instagram or social media, get connected with the host on LinkedIn, like get a conversation going. That starts number one, because a lot of people, again, like they go on the podcast and they wait for it to go live, which could be months, you know? Like I've done shows where I get booked and it's six months before that interview is even published. And so you don't have to wait six months before you get some benefit from that interaction. So the moment you're booked, connect with the host, do a post, like maybe take a selfie of yourself with your microphone and then like tag the host and say, like, so excited, I just got booked on this podcast. Like it can be very simple, you know, these simple little tactics make a big difference. And uh, so those are just a couple of things that I would recommend doing. Like when you first get booked. Um, and I mean, I do like hour-long trainings on how to repurpose, but I know we're we're doing a bite-sized podcast here, so I'll leave it there.
Kelly Leonard:We are, but we are gonna talk about that. Oh, yeah. We are gonna talk about your resources. So we will get to that. Absolutely. Um, and so, you know, I know the these initial few minutes, um, someone might be listening and be like, oh my gosh, that sound sounds really easy. However, there's gotta be some challenge connected with this process. So let's spend a little bit of time talking about what some common challenges people face when they're trying to build um their brand through podcast guesting and how can they overcome these obstacles to really meet their desired outcomes?
Jessica Rhodes:You know what? Like, to be totally honest with you, Kelly, the biggest challenge that I see is that people aren't patient and they don't take personal responsibility for the results. They're just gonna be really, really real with everyone. They think it should happen faster than it does. And then if it doesn't, they're not willing to look and say, like, maybe my stories weren't compelling enough. Maybe my website doesn't convert well. And so people are going there, but then they're not opting in. Or maybe the call to action I'm giving, nobody wants that lead magnet. So I need to switch it up. So, and then maybe all that's perfect, but it just takes time for people to actually find your uh find your interviews, listen to your interviews, and then have the timing align. One thing that my dad, who is my business coach, always taught me is that oh, I want to save this to your lightning round. I was just thinking about this. I was like, This is legit. You can legit absolutely. I was like, wow, this lesson is really top of mind, but that's because I prepared it for the show.
Kelly Leonard:So it's all good. Let it flow, Jessica.
Jessica Rhodes:Okay, I'm gonna let it flow. Um, buyers buy when they're ready to buy. And so you could be on a podcast and have amazing buyers in the audience, like dream clients, and maybe you offer like a coaching program. And people in the audience, they signed up for another coaching program a month ago. So they're earmarking you for like six months down the road when that contract ends. But some people are like, well, the podcast didn't work because no one bought. Well, maybe there's people that have written your name down and they plan on working with you when the time is right for them. And so it's so important to have patience, be consistent, stick with it long term, and then always be looking at like what you can do to improve. Because this strategy works if you give it the time and you always look at like what you can do to be more effective at it.
Kelly Leonard:So even like if we dial back even to the booking part, like some of the booking strategies or booking challenges, rather. Can you share some of those challenges? Because I'd imagine I know as a podcaster, I get bombarded with folks wanting to be on the podcast. And real talk, Jessica, you and I literally just met, like I just found out about Jessica Root. Like, like within the last week, and just as fate would have it, like someone ended up needing to reschedule. And then I was like, hey, Jessica, would you happen to be available? And part of the reason why I escalated you to like pri I re-prioritized who was in the queue was because I was really intrigued by not only your content, but then also, you know, looking at your LinkedIn page and just getting to know and looking at your website and things like that. So what are some of the challenges? Because I would imagine uh Jessica is not an everyday for me. I'm more often than not, I find myself perhaps, oh, you know, don't call me, I'll call you, or I'll let you know, or hmm, delete. Like, because I get so many inquiries about the podcast. Share some of the best practices to overcome even some of those booking challenges, if you will.
Jessica Rhodes:Oh my goodness. Yeah. I mean, as you said it, these hosts are, you know, just so booked out. Everyone wants to be on their show. And so making your topic stand out is super important, which is why the one sheet is key. And then always looking at like the topics that are on your one sheet. I mean, a great tip that John Lee Doumas actually shared at a recent conference is that when you're pitching podcast hosts, do a search on their show to see if they've ever done an episode about your topic. And when you're pitching, make sure you're clearly connecting the dots about this is how your topic and what your episode would be about speaks to something that their listeners want to learn about. Because so many people lead with like, this is why I'm amazing, and this is how much money I've made, and this is why I should be on your show. Cause I have a book coming out. And the host doesn't care about that. Like, they care about creating a great episode that their listeners are gonna want to tune into the next episode. So really focus on serving, providing value, and just being a little bit interesting. People are too buttoned up and boring, and uh it takes a lot of energy to host a show. And if people come on and it's like pulling teeth, it is like, no, it's not gonna work.
Kelly Leonard:Right, right. Yeah. And because I think folks will assume that just because you're on the show, that oh, it's gonna get published. And it's like splash, this is pre-recorded, it could be deleted. Absolutely, absolutely so so true. So, one of the things that I wanna um wanna touch base on, because I know you mentioned even in the strategy, like making sure that you know, like what are you building towards? And so, in your experience, um, and when you think about leads, like if this, if you're using podcasting as a um to build your leads or, you know, just to build additional leads, build your pipeline, all that good stuff. In your experience, why do podcast listeners and hosts um close so much easier than other leads? And then what metrics or indicators should business leaders track to measure the success or the return on their investment?
Jessica Rhodes:Yeah. So podcast listeners are already spending a lot of time with you versus other platforms. So, like I talk to a lot of business owners that will do like cold DMs. You know, their strategy is like mass outbound DMs on LinkedIn or they're doing cold calling, they're running paid ads. And so they're getting this volume of leads that look qualified, but the thing is they're not warm. They don't know you, they don't trust you yet, they don't know who you are, they just know you're a company that provides this specific service. But when somebody comes to you by way of a podcast, they've already hung out with you, they've already had you in their little AirPods, they've been hanging out with you while they're doing their dishes. Like it is a different type of connection. And so people, they they come to trust you. Like if somebody that listens to your show every single episode and then they hear me talking with you, they're like, oh, well, Kelly brought her onto the show. There's just an level of trust there. And, you know, people are able to binge you. Like I've had people that hear me on one podcast, they like it, and they're like, Where else is she? And they'll Google me and then they'll listen to like five other podcasts I've done. And that's why the consistency and the patience is key. Because you just do one podcast, people are like, all right, it's like a Netflix show that has five episodes. You're like, no, I need to binge nine seasons.
Kelly Leonard:Okay, right. So true, so true. So now, as we're winding down our time together, believe it or not, this like really flew, but time flies when you're having fun. When you look ahead, what are some of the trends that you um foresee in the podcasting industry? And then how can entrepreneurs stay ahead um, you know, of the curve to um to continue building their brand in this area?
Jessica Rhodes:Yeah, I mean, uh, video is huge. I I it's very rare that I'm on a show that doesn't have video. So you you gotta just get, you know, be ready for video if you're gonna be a guest. And and I would say in terms of like we talked a lot about being a guest, but this whole podcast thing is not going anywhere. So if you don't have a show yet, I'm not saying everyone needs to have their own podcast, but in terms of trends, it's like having your own media, owning your own media. Like being a guest is earned media, but owning your own media, like we just restarted our podcast after a couple of years, hiatus, and we're like, we got to start our podcast again.
Kelly Leonard:Wow.
Jessica Rhodes:Yeah, because that's kind of like the shoemaker son has you talk how many marketing agency owners I talk to that are like, I'm not doing my own marketing, you know, it's so important.
Kelly Leonard:Absolutely, absolutely. Well, Jessica, this was a ton of fun. Yeah. If folks are listening in and they are interested in tapping into your genius, what's the best way to connect with you?
Jessica Rhodes:Yeah, so our website, interviewconnections.com. If you do interviewconnections.com slash prep, we've got a free podcast prep checklist that you can get. So nice little freebie there for you. So interviewconnections.com slash prep is where you can get that.
Kelly Leonard:Awesome. Thank you for that. Thank you so much for all that you do to support entrepreneurs and aspiring and you know, all right, pre-established podcasters. I appreciate everything that you're doing in this space. Thank you. This was so much fun.
Announcer:Thank you for tuning in to the Boost Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please like and rate the show and share it with a friend. Also, don't forget to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Every other week, we'll empower you with practical, actionable insights, tips, and takeaways to boost your success.
