When you’re ready to let your expertise shine, one great strategy is to appear on other people’s podcasts. In what may be the most meta (lowercase m) episode for us yet, we catch up with Carrolee Moore, CEO & Founder of the Podcast Pitching Society to learn about the power of appearing on other people’s podcasts, how to leverage that placement so it continues working for you, and gives us a look at her small business miracle. Plus, she has an offer for our listeners! Tune in to learn more then sign up here.
Transcript:
Jeff: Welcome to the Small Business Miracles podcast.
I’m Jeff Randolph. This small business podcast is brought to you by EAG Advertising and Marketing.
We’re going to talk about marketing, and we’re also here to celebrate entrepreneurs by diving into their story and learning a little bit more about what makes them tick. And today, it’s going to get super meta. You’re listening to a podcast.
You clearly listen to podcasts, and my guess is you’re an expert on one or two things. Let’s combine that. You get chocolate and the peanut butter—two great things that taste great together.
We’re talking to Carrolee Moore, CEO and founder of the Podcast Pitching Society, to learn about pitching yourself to appear on other people’s podcasts. If you’re ready, let’s bring in Carrolee Moore into the conversation.
Talk about strategies. Talk about capabilities. Building all your hopes and dreams. Talk about possibilities. It ain’t rocket surgery. But maybe it is. Come on down.
All right. I am joined by Carrolee Moore. I’m going to bring Carrolee into the conversation here. Carrolee Moore, CEO and founder of the Podcast Pitching Society. Carrolee, welcome to the show.
Carrolee: Thank you so much for having me today, Jeff. I’m excited to be here.
Jeff: Yeah, yeah. Well, and, you know, Podcast Pitching Society, we want to get into it and understand more about what you do. You help real experts be found for podcasts. Tell us more about the Podcast Pitching Society and what you do.
Carrolee: Absolutely. So one of the things I realized from my career and also even my first company, which was a marketing and branding agency, was that a lot of times the people who were doing the work were not the ones out front actually talking about the work. And you’re seeing probably less so now, but there for a long time was a proliferation of just really loud people who did not really have the credentials to back it up. And hence why there are now lawsuits all over the internet about coaches, et cetera, who just had no business selling what they were selling.
And I was just frustrated at that. As someone who went to school, studied all the things, did all the things, visibility-wise, I was hidden and no one knew what I was, you know what I mean?
And so even as I built a multi-six-figure agency, I still felt invisible. I had stuff to say. I wanted my perspective to be heard. And so we started pitching me for more podcasts while I was actually still running that agency. And when I closed it down, told my clients, did all the things—I will spare you all the gory details—it was very, very traumatizing. I had to do some soul searching as to what I really wanted to do, who I wanted to be, and how I wanted to impact the world.
Yes, I’m a graphic designer. Yes, I believe in pretty things, but I genuinely want, and I am passionate about, helping people tell their stories.
Right. And once I started talking to more and more experts, I took like two and a half, three months just talking to people. I didn’t want to launch another business that just added to the noise. Another marketing agency, another “I can help you get internet famous.” I really wanted to understand: what do people want? What do they need in their business beyond me coming in, selling for them, that would help them move the needle?
And more and more, I heard people talk about the fact that if more people knew what they did, they would have no problem with sales. They could close the sales—it’s just that they were not getting the leads. The awareness piece needed to be there.
Yeah. They weren’t getting qualified leads. And so I started kind of thinking through, like, okay, how can I actually help in this place? I’m hearing over and over that this is a problem. And I was like, podcasts. And the reason I landed on that is because I really enjoy having conversations with people, but it’s like two people—that’s a max before it’s like, “Ooh, now it’s a group.”
The fear of getting up to a podium with an audience out there—I would rather not. I can, but I would rather not. And I recognize how powerful it is just to have a one-to-one conversation that then a whole bunch of people can hear. And imagine if that whole bunch of people were your ideal clients.
And imagine if, while you’re talking about what you do, you had a way to talk about it that didn’t sound salesy and kind of sleazy, like, “Oh my God, you’re trying to sell yourself. How original for a marketer.” Yeah, yeah, yeah. Imagine if you were able to do that.
And so I started kind of compiling that offer. The first time that I pitched it, we made over five figures. And I was like, yeah, this is something. There’s something here.
Yeah. So from there, I just thought, hey, I’m going to pitch for these folks. And that’s kind of just what it is. But as time went along, this business has become more than just “hey, we’ll get you on podcasts.” What I’ve found is I’m finding more and more people like me, but just years-ago version of me. They’re really smart. They have all the letters behind their names. They’ve gone to school for God knows how long. They’ve been in their industry for years. But their bank account doesn’t match their expertise. Their notoriety in their small circle is fantastic. But beyond their small circle, they’re not really known.
And now they have a desire to not just be known for what they’ve been doing—they want to be known for what they think. And there is a difference between that.
Yeah. Like not popularity, not trying to be like the next Oprah Winfrey, whatever. Really wanting for people to understand something very specific and key that will impact their lives. Like actual world changers. And that’s who we work with. That’s who I strive to get on podcasts—not so they can be popular, but so they can literally help save lives when it comes to healthcare or some kind of wellness. And then for other folks that are just trying to help people be better, be happier, and live a more abundant life or grow a more abundant business or keep more of their money—whatever it is—that is the mission of the Podcast Pitching Society beyond getting people on podcasts. I genuinely care about getting these voices amplified.
Jeff: Oh, outstanding. Yeah. Can we talk through some of the specific services? Because you don’t just do the booking. You’re also coaching. There’s training. There’s education. Give me a sense of what those service areas are.
Carrolee: It’s all the things. I will say this: I am going to actually preview some things that we’re rolling out as well, so this is going to be for both what we’re doing now and things that we’re planning to implement in the future.
Right now, we start by doing research for you—similar to how I pitched you to get on this show. I know it did happen; there was a whole back and forth there. We research, and we actually use a rubric. There’s a rubric that we’ve created in-house that essentially has a scoring system that says, okay, if the podcast doesn’t hit that score by the time we calculate everything, we don’t pitch for that particular show.
And that includes anywhere from downloads to the topic, main topics that are discussed, the subject, the focus and feature of the podcast—all of those things.
A big part, too, that people often miss: are they promoting the show? Yeah. Is the podcast actually promoting itself? Because, again, this is a visibility play. If you’re wanting to actually get more out there, if someone is just doing a podcast and you’re not really seeing them push the show, then more than likely your episode is also not going to be heard by the audience.
So the research part is really important. Then we curate that and get your pitching materials together. What is unique to us? We call it your visibility PowerPoint. A lot of times when you go into agencies, they might get your bio or crawl your LinkedIn profile and create a pitch without ever talking to you, without ever thinking strategically how to position you. And so they’re sending out this pitch that has been used by all of their other clients.
For us, really wanting to get to know you and record everything is kind of like a therapy session that is recorded. By the end of it, my goal is to get you to understand: there is this thing beyond, “Okay, you’re a marketer, great. What do you actually care about? What is the thing that you want to stand toes out on, that if you said it in the middle of a room, some would vehemently disagree and some would agree?” That is your visibility PowerPoint.
And that is the thing that is going to make the podcast host say, “Oh my God.” And on top of that, in our pitches, we are very show- and audience-centric. It is not about you. It is about how you can serve the audience and the podcast host. Any good podcast host’s point is to serve their audience. And if you can show that in your pitch, you’re halfway down.
Right. So we already know our clients are impressive. They’re PhDs. They’ve done all the things. That’s not the point. What do you have to say? That’s the pitch we put together. Then we run that up. Once the person says, “Great, I want to have you on the show,” I come in and we do another session where I prep you.
This prep session is crucial. I actually did one yesterday with a client who has never been on a podcast before. She has been in design for years, like a nerd just like me, and cares a lot about data. She’s trying to combine a creative idea with data-driven design, which is amazing.
In our conversation, I wanted her to bring more of herself out, because she went straight into talking about the thing. That’s great, but people want to know and understand you first before you start talking about the thing. Like, do I like you? Then we go into all the things.
We spent a lot of time on the introduction—how do you introduce yourself? How do you get audiences to care about who you are, not just what you do, and really see your personality come through?
My voice can be monotone if I don’t move my face and use my hands—but only in a certain way. You’re not going to see me strike a pose while I’m talking. That’s important.
We do everything from voice and tone practice, adding color to your voice, and storytelling. We practice introductions. We create responses to anticipated questions together. And it’s all recorded so they can go back and practice. By the time they get on a podcast, they’re not nervous. They understand their mission, their call to action, and where their offer will appear throughout the conversation.
After the podcast, we create content: reels, captions, blogs, promo emails. We help repurpose content across channels. Podcasts are also part of our sales process and onboarding—priming clients before sales calls and walking new clients through the first days of engagement.
We also build landing pages and funnels for clients, whether it’s a lead magnet or a direct “book a call” page.
Jeff: I was going to ask about leveraging the podcast experience after you do it. It’s the same as a PR win—great story placement anywhere.
Carrolee: Exactly. You want to make sure it’s visible throughout. Engage in comments, reward interaction, and leverage your content across all platforms. The same message you share on a podcast should sing the same song everywhere else.
Jeff: You coach people to understand the full lifecycle of an interview and their responsibility in keeping the conversation alive.
Carrolee: Yes. One of the lessons I’ve learned is that life is like a sewer: what you get out depends on what you put in. If you’re not ready to take steps, you won’t get the results. I check in with clients, make sure they leverage content correctly, and provide guidance on how to use it beyond the podcast.
Jeff: Let’s do a lightning round to get to know you more.
Carrolee: That works for me.
Jeff: You grew up in Jamaica. Have you gone back since?
Carrolee: Of course.
Jeff: When you go back, is there a food memory you absolutely have to have?
Carrolee: Yes. There’s an ice cream sandwich called Crazy Jim. A huge block of vanilla ice cream with a soft cookie-like crust. It’s a treat from my childhood. I always try to find it when I go back.
Jeff: Jamaica is not a place I’ve been yet, but I’ll have that dish when I go.
Carrolee: Absolutely. But there are many other dishes to try too—jerk chicken, curry goat, oxtail—all amazing.
Jeff: Success—personal or client success that feels like a small business miracle?
Carrolee: I closed my agency in July, started the Podcast Pitching Society in October last year, and within six months we made over six figures. That was a small business miracle in the midst of personal challenges.
Jeff: And failures?
Carrolee: In my first business, I made decisions based on feelings instead of data. I held on to the wrong people, didn’t hire correctly, and wasn’t the highest-paid person on my team. Many lessons there.
Jeff: Favorite podcasts?
Carrolee: Goal Getter, Diary of a CEO, Therapy for Black Girls. They guide me in business, wellness, and mental health.
Jeff: Outstanding. Where can listeners find you?
Carrolee: LinkedIn: Carrolee Moore. I’m everywhere else too. I’m offering a free visibility strategy session for listeners—a short session to help figure out where to start.
Jeff: Love it. Minutes of a session. Outstanding. Carrolee Moore, CEO and founder of the Podcast Pitching Society. Thanks for being with us today.
Carrolee: Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me, Jeff.
Jeff: And that’s our show. Thanks to Carrolee, and thank you for listening to the Small Business Miracles podcast. Remember to subscribe, leave a five-star rating and review, and drop us a line at eagadc.com. Until then, we’ll be out here helping entrepreneurs with another small business miracle.