Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hello, I'm Jeremy Rivera, your unscripted small business podcast host. I'm here with Victoria Bennion, who's going to introduce her business and tell us its name and its objective before we get into her backstory, her tragic history. I'm kidding.
No. But we will talk about what it is that you have done that should make people trust you as an expert in this space.
[00:00:29] Speaker B: And.
[00:00:29] Speaker A: And so let's start there. Who are you, and what would you say you do here, Victoria?
[00:00:35] Speaker B: So my name's Victoria Bennion, and I'm the founder of the Best podcast guest booking agency.
So we've been booking guests on podcasts, or I have, which turned into a we since 2019.
So we help experts with their positioning, what they can talk about, and. And then matching them with the right podcasts.
[00:00:59] Speaker A: Incredible. Tell me about what it is. What is the value proposition that seems to really drive.
What's the engine behind this? Because obviously, if you're wanting to book them for something, there's criteria, and they're sorting it out. But what's the impetus? What is the reason that people should want to go on podcasts so badly that they would turn to Victoria and her killer team to find them? Podcasts.
[00:01:32] Speaker B: There's so many benefits to podcasts. And I think sometimes initially, when we meet people, they think it's like mainstream media.
So, you know, they. They might have in mind that they want to be on Oprah or Diary of a CEO or Joe Rogan, I think, in America often.
But actually, the clients that we work with see so many benefits from this. It's in lots of different ways. So being a guest on podcast, you make all the connections with the host. So, like, you and me are meeting now. It's a great networking opportunity. And sometimes our clients find that the host is their ideal client and they end up working together. Or if not, it's. They might collaborate in some way or the host introduces them to other podcasts looking for guests. So it can be a great networking tool.
It can also be great for your SEO because a lot of hosts will give you a backlink to your website in the show notes. So some of our clients use it for that.
Great to get all those backlinks coming and help people discover you. So it's that discoverability, I think, as well as reaching the listeners, which is obviously, I guess, the most obvious one. But where podcasts can be so niche, you don't need to be on Oprah or Joe Rogan or whatever to see benefits from a podcast interview strategy can really, really hone in your marketing and talk to the people that need to hear from you.
So that's what we help people do, essentially.
[00:03:05] Speaker A: I do find that sometimes when it comes to marketing for a business, you can have so much stuck in your head and you think that you're saying it, that you believe, you know, that you have this incredible backstory. And unfortunately, you might go to their site and it's like four pictures in three sentences because they were afraid, oh, they're beautiful pictures, but they don't actually, like. They think that it says more about their business. I think salon owners are particularly guilty of this.
They want to rely on, oh, it's an incredible look at the aesthetic, but that's not what makes them unique. There's plenty of salons with a beautiful storefront, but it's the people, it's the marketing, the positioning, and that's so much easier to come out in a conversation, don't you think?
[00:03:57] Speaker B: I completely agree with you.
Going on podcasts and talking about you, your story.
It's a great differentiator, as you're saying, if you're a salon owner, between you and another hairdresser. For example, we had a client who's a coach, and she loved cats, really loved cats. And when she would go on podcasts, she would talk about her. All her cats, just as one element.
And she told us that after one interview went live, she had an inquiry from someone who said, I knew you were the coach for me. You know, I really liked the sound of you as you were talking about you love cats. I love cats. And I mean, that's just a really simple way of putting it, but it can.
It gives you a chance to show that side of you and maybe when it makes you different and you're going to attract the right people to you and also probably repel the others, which is fine. But.
[00:04:50] Speaker A: Yeah, if your life were a coloring book, what are those pictures on those pages and were they colored in the lines or outside of the lines?
[00:05:02] Speaker B: I'm not great at coloring in, if that's what you mean.
Yes. What if my life was a coloring book? I like that. I've never been asked that before.
[00:05:11] Speaker A: I just came up with it. So let's roll.
[00:05:14] Speaker B: So is it messy? Is it ordered? No, it's probably messy. I'll be honest with you.
Yeah, it's.
Yeah. I always feel like I don't know about you. I'm juggling a lot. There's a lot of plates in the air, so those lines are kind of are probably messy. But also, I think that then that's creative.
So I probably would say, like, I'm fairly creative.
There's some order. I do try. But, yeah, I don't usually go for. Go for creating. And.
And so it's probably messing up what's
[00:05:52] Speaker A: in your background, in your history. I think you said you'd been doing this for 6, 6 ish years now.
Were you, you know, a veterinarian assistant before that, or something related to marketing come right out of, as they say, over their university or where was the transition to, I'm going to help people get on podcasts? What did that look like? And where were you before that?
[00:06:17] Speaker B: Sure. So initially I trained in journalism.
That was what I did first. And then I quickly moved into communications.
And when I had my daughter, I was. So this is about 16 years ago. 15. 16 years ago, I decided to freelance in marketing, and I was working with a couple of authors around that 2019 time. 2018, 2019.
And I did a course to update my skills generally on supporting authors new things that they could do. And one of the things talked about was being a guest on podcasts.
So I thought, this sounds really interesting. And there was a business owner in the Facebook group attached to the course who said, I really want to be on podcasts, having done this, but I don't have the time to do it myself. Can anyone help me?
So I put my hand up, and it was so interesting to me because I didn't really know what we were doing.
We just kind of were feeling our way around it. And it was the benefits that he got that I think made me quite enthusiastic, because I remember pitching one show and he worked in leadership. And they came back and they said they'd kind of taken the one sheet that I sent over as a cv, I guess a resume.
And they were saying, well, I don't know about, yeah, you can be on the podcast, but we're looking for someone like him as a consultant. And we went, do you think he'd deliver some webinars for us? And so he got this business opportunity, and then another opportunity he got was that one of the hosts had a conference and that they ran. I didn't know that at the time. And so they did their interview, and at the end they asked him if he would be a speaker at the conference, and they bought 300 copies of his book.
So I realized that it didn't work out necessarily in the way that he thought it was going to, but these other opportunities were coming through for him.
[00:08:14] Speaker A: It seems to me technology has advanced quite a lot in the podcasting space. I myself, you know, I'm leveraging Riverside and it makes it a lot easier. What are some of the preconceptions that people might have about, oh, I need to do X, Y and Z before, you know, because there's always that, oh, I got gotta buy this expensive equipment. I have to do this before I get started. It's really, it's. It's making excuses like my son was like, refusing to do part of his homeschool homework because he was so hungry and he had to have an egg first. I'm like, that's just an excuse. You know what the sentence needs to be.
But what are some of those excuses on equipment side or expectations that you kind of have to paper over or educate about?
[00:09:05] Speaker B: Definitely the equipment. That's one of the first, I think, that comes up that you need expensive equipment and you don't. It. Yes, it's ideal to definitely have an external microphone, webcam, headphones, but you don't have to spend a lot of money to do that.
Just not using your computer's inbuilt, you know, camera and microphone is going to elevate it. So it's quite a low barrier to entry, really, isn't it? You can do it at home. And I think people often feel that they need to be polished in what they're talking about and be ready. Like the be ready. And yes, you do need to know what you're talking about. But I think as business owners, you know your business inside out. It's what you do. So it's just going on and talking about what you do. So yes, there is preparation you can do ahead of time. But I think that worry about perfection before you start. You don't have to be perfect, you don't have to be the best speaker. You can just be yourself.
[00:10:10] Speaker A: I think it's about that authenticity in marketing, you know, because there is. There is a tension there. And I talked about it with a couple of my other guests of.
I think it was Jake Malendi of Ignito that, you know, you.
You have this requirement of marketing to kind of say a particular thing or appear as a particular thing versus actually, you know, your. The marketing you put out there is a representation of you. And it. It can be difficult, difficult to do that. But I find that, you know, in the vocal medium, like sitting across from somebody, you know, it's much easier to do that authentically than to, you know, have such a prepared spiel that you just. Or you're listing it off and, you know, the other waiting for that prompt where you can just launch into your diatribe. It just. It's much easier if you just have a genuine conversation. You don't have to memorize who you are. It's just, you know, being comfortable with being uncomfortable sometimes.
[00:11:14] Speaker B: Yeah, definitely.
One of the things that we include for our clients as an option is a session with a speech coach, and she will give us the feedback sometimes. And I know we had a client, and they were very used to writing. They were copywriters. And she said when it came to introducing themselves, what they did, it was very much a canned response.
So she was working with them to actually bring that back down into a more natural way of speaking and to be themselves rather than delivering that marketing perfection.
[00:11:48] Speaker A: That's fascinating. Couldn't you share any other insights that you're.
You've probably listened in on a few of those. What are some golden tidbits from your team's vocal coach or audio coach that people going on podcasts might want to hear?
[00:12:06] Speaker B: Share stories, share stories. It helps you to be more memorable, helps to build connection with the listener. I mean, we remember stories far more than facts.
So think about your best stories and bring them in your interview to illustrate.
[00:12:25] Speaker A: Well, I'm going to turn the table on you. Tell me a story.
[00:12:29] Speaker B: Tell you a story. Okay. Yeah. I mean, I did ask for that, didn't I? Really?
[00:12:33] Speaker A: You walked right into it.
[00:12:36] Speaker B: I did run into it. Okay.
I can tell you that.
Why? We brought a speech coach on board, for example. So one of the. We work with authors, and sometimes some of them won't be used to speaking as much as, say, business owners, maybe.
And we had a client, and her background was as a teacher, so I thought that she would feel confident on podcasts, and actually she wasn't at all. And she showed up to the podcast interviews with a script. So she wanted. She was expecting advanced questions, which she could then write a script for, and then she wasn't expecting to deviate from that at all in any form of natural communication.
So that was. That took me by surprise. This was many years ago, and that is why we got the speech coach on board.
So to help people prepare a little bit to feel more comfortable. And also we give them a practice interview on our podcast so that they can get that practice and get that feedback. So if they're new to us.
Yes. So that's. You can never foresee these things. I think it certainly took me by surprise, but that's how our kind of. Our service evolved.
[00:14:01] Speaker A: I Find that the challenges you face as a solopreneur, as a owner, operator and business owner, that friction wears away the rough corners.
So what has been some of the friction that you've been facing as you transition from a full time freelancer to having a specific idea to, you know, building it up to the point where you have a speech coach on the team.
[00:14:33] Speaker B: So I think in the beginning it's for me certainly I was doing it all myself. So I was just started off freelance and I'm getting the clients. And then it comes to that point with you can't manage all the work yourself and then it's who do you get to help you?
Can you trust them? I think that can be an issue of will they deliver to my clients the same quality.
And then so, you know, for us it was more, for me it was putting together a number of sops for things. This is how we do things and then the checks and balances and I think also then managing team members because again, you go into something perhaps because it's something that you feel that you like, maybe you're good at it. And then there's all these other elements aren't there when it comes to running the business. So sort of managing, managing a team, doing all these other things that you haven't thought about, like the finance and your own marketing. So obviously we promote other people, but there's all those other elements that you've then got to fit in. And then I think moving from being in the business to working on the business as I talk about and how much time, you know, because you need to be looking at bringing in the business and then not spending all your time on the client work, but overseeing it also. That's certainly points that have brought me friction in the past as we've been growing.
[00:16:04] Speaker A: What are the factors that have shifted because of AI capability within the way that you see your business, that you operate, that you market or even, you know, your service at the end.
[00:16:21] Speaker B: I think there's great opportunity with AI, I really do. But I also have spoken to hosts who are saying that they are getting so many more pitches now, very AI generated pitches. So I think certainly we use it within the business.
So we would use it in the background, but we don't use it in our pictures. So we still pitch fresh. So I think it's, there's great, there's great opportunity. It's going to speed so many things up that you have to do in the business, but it's also an opportunity perhaps to bring that humanness into the pictures and through using that still standing out.
[00:17:06] Speaker A: What is it that you think you'll be doing with this business in the next two years? I used to ask five years, but the pace of technology changing, the industries shift. I think two, five years, you kind of get that glassy eyed stare into the horizon and start thinking about long walks on the beach and is this really what I want to be doing versus okay, I can definitely handle probably the next year, maybe the next. So what's that look like for you in your head right now?
[00:17:37] Speaker B: In my head right now I think it's about, it will be about working out, working AI into the business, into the flow in the background and where can we save the time and hopefully help more people and continuing to grow.
[00:17:57] Speaker A: I love that. Is there a particular. Are you still on the author niche or have you expanded beyond that? Are you taking, taking all comers or is there still like a favored child profile?
[00:18:10] Speaker B: Ah, all experts, I would say. So when we say authors, it's usually nonfiction authors, so usually business owners who've written a book.
We do quite a lot of work in health space as well.
[00:18:27] Speaker A: Tell me, tell me about the last vacation that you went on when you step away from this Persona and this work.
What's that look like for you?
[00:18:40] Speaker B: Well, the last vacation we went on was we went to the Caribbean, went on a cruise in February, which was very nice. And it's good. I think it's the first time actually that I was able to fully step away from the business because I had the team members in place. So.
So yes,
[00:19:05] Speaker A: hard question, who shouldn't use
[00:19:09] Speaker B: your service if you're very new, if you're still figuring out your business, if, say a host is going to look you up, they're not really sure what you do.
You're not, you're not at that point you really, really new then no.
If I also feel like it works best if you've got something solid to sell.
So it can be. You're going to think about how you're going to see that roi. So if maybe you're not selling anything yet or you don't have a solid offer worked out yet, then hold off on the podcasts. Do what you do.
[00:19:50] Speaker A: You're in a hotel and you step into an elevator and the perfect client steps in with you, full of curiosity and says genuinely not like in the passing, like, oh, what do you do? But what is it you actually do?
What would you say?
[00:20:10] Speaker B: Well, we help experts increase their visibility by placing them on aligned podcasts to help them Connect with their ideal client.
[00:20:22] Speaker A: I love it. Very concise, very tight. How can people connect with you? Are you a big social media person?
I'm everywhere. I've been playing around with TikTok and Instagram, particularly recently, just because the medium of podcasts I've found the ability to slice and dice and create different forms of content just has exploded as I've kind of explored Claude code. But where can people find you, have a conversation or connect with you and learn more about your business?
[00:20:53] Speaker B: So I am on social media as well, but probably connect with me on LinkedIn. It's just Victoria Bennion on LinkedIn and our website is www.thebestpodcastguest.co.uk and all the links are on there to my social media.
[00:21:10] Speaker A: I can't help but notice your accent is different from mine. I'm from California, living in Tennessee. Whereabouts on the island are you?
[00:21:20] Speaker B: I'm in Dorset on the south coast of England.
[00:21:24] Speaker A: Does geolocation matter for your clientele? Do you tend to work with British authors and have stronger connections in the island? Or are you working across the globe in the us, In Canada?
[00:21:39] Speaker B: Yeah, we work across the globe. In fact, the majority of our clients are in America or Canada. Yeah, much bigger.
[00:21:48] Speaker A: Largely English speaking then, or do you.
[00:21:51] Speaker B: Largely English speaking, yeah. Yes.
[00:21:55] Speaker A: I think that I have run out of questions, so I have a question for you.
Okay.
Because I interview all types of coaches, SEO consultants, marketing experts.
What's a problem or a challenge that you've been facing that you want a genuine answer for and you want to put it out there as the question for one of my next guests,
[00:22:21] Speaker B: SEO. Oh, I may be.
So, yeah, I'm just. I'm trying to improve my knowledge of SEO, I guess, particularly in this time with AI, when it's all changing.
AI search. How do we show up in AI search? It seems different from Google search. So yeah, open to any advice on that.
[00:22:43] Speaker A: Fantastic. I'll float it to one of my next SEO experts. We just did a couple of panels with a couple of SEO SaaS, developers and builders, so might want to check out some previous interviews for a recording of this conversation. The transcript, check out unscripted small business.com for SEO conversations. Unscripted SEO.com thank you so much for stopping stopping by, Victoria. It's been a fantastic conversation.
I'll make sure the Show Notes has links to your LinkedIn profile and your website.
Thanks for having a chat.
[00:23:18] Speaker B: Thank you so much.
