A practical guide to running guest outreach for an independent podcast — pipeline, templates, follow-ups, and tools.
A podcast guest CRM is a workspace for tracking everyone you want to interview on your show — prospects, current bookings, past guests, and re-invite candidates. It replaces spreadsheets, sticky notes, and a chaotic inbox with one focused tool for the booking side of podcasting.
Start by capturing every guest idea in one place. Tag by topic, audience reach, and warmth of intro. Move each guest through stages: idea, researching, pitched, replied, scheduled, recorded, published, re-invite. Knowing exactly how many people are at each stage is what separates a healthy show from a feast-or-famine one.
Use a personalized first sentence — reference something specific the guest recently said or shipped. Keep the ask under 100 words. Make the time commitment clear up front. Always include a one-line credibility marker about your show.
Most pitches that get accepted are accepted on the second or third touch. Plan a sequence in advance — nudge at five days, break-up at twelve — and let automation run it so you stop dropping people.