The Power of Podcasting With Tom Schwab, Founder of Interview Valet

Tom Schwab is the Founder and Chief Evangelist Officer of Interview Valet. Interview Valet is a Podcast Interview Marketing (PIM) company that helps clients leverage targeted podcast interviews to talk directly to their ideal customers. He is a member of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization, Chicago chapter.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• How Tom Schwab started his 10-plus year journey in the podcasting space
• The power of podcasting
• What types of businesses does Interview Valet work with?
• Using podcasting as a way to compete with big brands
• How podcasting can be timely and timeless
• Strategies to become a good podcast guest

In this episode…

Previously, inbound marketing only needed guest blogging to build authority and attract new leads for a business. But targeting was complex, and the impact was difficult to track and measure. As a result, relationship-based businesses like coaches, consultants, agencies, and authors struggled to achieve results.

Now with podcast interview marketing, you can target specific audiences, build authority across industries, and get the attention of your ideal clients. Want to find out more about leveraging the power of podcasting?

Listen to the Inspired Insider Podcast episode with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring the Founder of Interview Valet, Tom Schwab. They discuss the evolution of podcasting as a relationship marketing tool, the types of businesses that need podcasting, how to be a good podcast guest, and more.

Resources mentioned in this episode

• Interview Valet
• Tom Schwab on LinkedIn

Books Mentioned:

• Podcast Guest Profits: Grow Your Business With a Targeted Interview Strategy by Thomas M. Schwab

Episode Transcript

John Corcoran  0:22  

Hey everybody, this is John Corcoran with Dr. Jeremy Weisz and this episode is a little bit different. This is a live interview that we recorded at the Global Leadership Conference from Entrepreneurs Organization, where some of the best entrepreneurs from around the globe gathered in Washington DC to share ideas and to learn about entrepreneurship. And of course, this episode is brought to you by Rise25, where we help b2b businesses to give to and to connect to their dream 100 relationships and partnerships, helping you to run a podcast so that it generates a referral pipeline and ROI.

Jeremy Weisz  0:56  

Yeah, I mean, John, after both of us have been podcasting for over a decade, the number one thing in our life is relationships. And we’re always looking at ways to give to our best relationships. And we found no better way to do that over the past decade than to profile the people in companies we admire and shout from the rooftops what they’re working on. And this interview is no different. So if you’ve thought about podcasting, you should go to Rise25.com To learn more, or email us at [email protected] Thanks, everyone, enjoy the interview. Enjoy.

All right, Jeremy Weisz here, we’re live from EO Global Leadership Summit. And this is brought to you by Rise25. I’m here with Tom and Tom, tell people about you and what your company does.

Tom Schwab  1:51  

Sure. I’m Tom Schwab. I’m the founder of Interview Valet. We do podcast interview marketing, basically, our viewpoint is that you can’t break through the noise, right? Most people are just adding to the noise. They never get heard. I believe the best way to get heard by your ideal customers is to get in on the conversation they’re already listening to. And we help coaches, consultants, entrepreneurs brands, do that with targeted podcasts or interviews.

Jeremy Weisz  2:18  

You know, I know I’ve been podcasting for over a decade, and there’s little people I find that have been doing it this long, except for you. So how do you get started in this industry?

Tom Schwab  2:29  

Well, I think he just said we’re both old here. But we’re both tenured in it. And I look at it it’s the world is not evolution or not revolution, it’s evolution. So I came at it from an inbound marketing perspective, using content to attract engage and delight customers. And you know, 20 years ago that used to be guest blogging, right to write a guest blog, get that authority, get that exposure, all the benefits come from that. And then back in about 2004. I started the hypothesis, excuse me, 2014, I started to hypothesize, could you use targeted podcasts or interviews for that? Almost like guest blogging. So that’s where I came from it. And it’s been great to see the journey and meet great people along the way. And really see where podcasting has emerged to

Jeremy Weisz  3:17  

let’s talk about the power of podcasting. What do you see, you know, because you said before, it was blogs, now it’s podcast, talk about the power of podcasting?

Tom Schwab  3:27  

Well, I think it’s the same, same reason, right, tapping into other people’s audience, getting people where they are. And I think actually, the idea of podcasting is going to be laughable when somebody listens to this in about 10 years, because in 1920, radio was called wireless telegraph. And by 1930, it was radio, sort of the same thing with podcasting. Right. Nobody remembers when iPod is anymore. And what is a podcast? You know, it used to be audio now we’ve got 70% of them are video, a podcast, if it’s on YouTube, this is still a podcast, you can find them on Facebook. Now Sirius XM, just bought some podcast networks just for the content. So I look at it is podcasting is really interesting stories, conversations, that can be Timewarped over anytime you can listen to it when you want, where you want, in the format you want. And it’s really an amazing thing that allows us to create in a way that’s easiest for us, and then reproduce in the way that’s easiest for for our clients.

Jeremy Weisz  4:31  

Yeah, I mean, you hit it on the head, it’s like, you know, if you look back with the websites, like if you have a business, you have a website, it didn’t always used to be like that. And I believe if you have a business, you will have a podcast at some point. Talk about you know, the type of clients you work with, and I know you had consultant.

Tom Schwab  4:52  

So we work with a lot of coaches, consultants, brands and authors, really people that are the best kept secret, something that that is more of a relationship sale than a transaction. Right? If you’re just trying to sell a widget, nobody needs to know what you want to be there, or know who you are. But if you really based on a relationship on that lifetime value, they have to know like and trust you. And I can think of one client, we had a consultant. He was a CPA, a fractional CFO. And his business prior to 2008 was all brick and mortar in Long Island. And he came to us and he said, I want to diversify. I want a different client in every state. I want no two clients in the same industry. And I’m like, Well, you should be able to diversify with podcasts that way. But you know, Jeremy, he used it as market research. After we worked with them for three or four months, we looked at the data and said, You did really, really well on this dental podcast. And he said, I love dentists, right? That’s a great market recession proof. They’re professionals good cash flow. Well, for the next six months, all we got him on was dental podcast. Now fast forward a few years, and his entire business will probably 80% of it is with dentists. He’s got his own podcast now, that is focused on the dental industry. So he used it to grow his business, but also to really define his brand. You know, you’ve got an opinion, I’ve gotten opinion, consultants have opinions, but he got the expert opinion by going out there and seeing what the market told them.

Jeremy Weisz  6:30  

The best direct response marketers and copywriters in the world. That’s what they say, Test test test into this gives them a channel to test across different industries to see what hits home, right?

Tom Schwab  6:43  

Industries, messages, even calls to action, right? Every digital marketer knows one call to action, right? Our testing has always shown give them three ways to say yes, a small yes to get him back to the website, a medium Yes, to engage with you a little bit more. And then the heck yes, right? If they hear you and they’re like, oh, Jeremy and John dirty answers to my prayers, they help people, you know, this is I need to work with them. Well, don’t slow them down in a funnel, right? If they come with a credit card and hand, let them talk to the wizard,

Jeremy Weisz  7:14  

we’ll have it. That should be a t shirt, let them talk to the wizard. Competing small brands competing with big brands, you had a company that, you know, it’s expensive to go to trade shows and compete with the big boys. So talk about that.

Tom Schwab  7:27  

Yeah. And so this was a great company breaking into a new market, right? They were a small player in a huge health care market. Well, how do you compete with that, you know, are you gonna go to head to head with one of the big bulkiness you go to a conference? And no matter what you do, no matter what your budget is, it’s going to look insignificant. So they looked and said, How can we have these discussions on a different channel, and really stand out? And they looked at it and said, well, let’s have these discussions on podcast interviews. Now, still a small company. You know, they’re looking to start their own podcast when they get up to a certain level. But right now, they’re just looking for backlinks. They’re looking for the SEO value. They’re looking for the new clients, referral partners, and I was just talking with their, their CEO, who’s also the talent for it. And he said, I’m having fun with these. It’s growing, the business sales is loving it. And he says, marketing Slovenia, too, because every one of these podcasts or interviews, they’re transcribing, they’re turning it into blogs, they’re turning into social media. So there’s so much power in there, you know, exposure brings opportunity. And I think today, one of the easiest ways to get that exposure is non targeted podcast interviews.

Jeremy Weisz  8:42  

I mean, these are also evergreen that last forever. I know I have episodes, people reach out, they have something I did seven years ago. So this stays even though they’re doing it now it is there forever.

Tom Schwab  8:55  

It is. And I don’t know if it’s forever, maybe it’s like a can of soup. Right? It’s good for three to five years. But that’s one of the things we always tell our clients, you know, make it timely, and timeless. Because while we’re standing here, and you know, it’s new to us, somebody is going to be listening to this three years from now. And it’s the first time for them. And it’s always amazing. I’ve been doing interviews since 2014. And somebody will say, I heard you on this podcast. I can’t even remember what it was or what I talked about, but you know what? They remember everything on there. And not only that, there’s that vocal vocal signature that you have in there like I’ve heard you before I recognize your voice and now with more and more of the podcasts going to video in alarm pre COVID, one out of five had video. Now it’s over 70 Or about 70% include video. Now they’re not only hearing you, but they’re seeing you and you know, you think about it will jump on a plane to go talk to you know, dozens or 100 ideas have customers. But you can get on a podcast and speak to 1000s of them throughout time. And you don’t even have to leave your home or office.

Jeremy Weisz  10:09  

time you give a lot of tips on being a good guest on a podcast, what’s one that sticks out that someone listening is like, Okay, this sounds great. I would like to be on podcast, what’s a tip? How do you be a good guest for someone else?

Tom Schwab  10:25  

I think the key word is guest let’s, let’s remember what it means to be a guest. Right? If you invite me over to your home, to be a guest for dinner, right? I’m going to be gracious, I’m going to show up on time, I’m going to come prepared. I’m going to bring value. And I think the people that come with their heart in that way to a podcast interview, they get so much from it. If you come to us and abuse the audience and look at it as a transaction. Those are the recordings ticket lost, right? But if you come as a gracious guest show up on time prepared, sounding great with professional equipment, right? You can spend $100 and get a great microphone, you make the host look like a genius for inviting you because you bring so much value to them. And then afterwards, be a great guest thank them. And how do you thank them? Well, by promoting the episode by sharing that, you know, if you’re a great guest like that word gets around, and host talk to hosts and you’ll get a lot of interviews that way.

Jeremy Weisz  11:26  

Tom, this has been fantastic. Where should people check you out online? What websites should we send them to?

Tom Schwab  11:31  

The best one is always interviewvalet with a v.com Just go to interviewvalet.com all the information’s there. We’ve got a assessment, you know, 10 questions will podcast interview marketing work for you. I wrote a book. I give it away freely because I want people to to learn how to do this. It’s called podcast guest profits, how to grow your business with the targeted interview strategy. And like we said before, if you want to talk to the wizard, just go right there you can get on my calendar to I don’t know if I’m the wizard, but you can get all of that at interviewvalet.com.

Jeremy Weisz  12:07  

interview valet.com Thanks everyone.