You Don’t Pitch Podcasts—You Introduce Humans (feat. Tom Schwab)

Playbook for Podcast Relationships

There are three kinds of podcast guests:

1. The nose-in-the-air elites

2. The robo-pitchers flooding inboxes

3. The rare few who treat introductions like sacred ground
   

Tom Schwab is that third kind.

After our conversation on Episode 16 of the Scale to Sale Podcast, I’ll never look at podcasting—or any relationship-driven marketing strategy—the same way again.

“You pitch a baseball. You introduce a human being.”
— Tom Schwab

That line alone should be printed on every pitch deck and framed in every green room.

Tom didn’t show up to sell. He showed up to serve—with stories, strategies, and a framework that completely reset how I vet podcast guests and how we train our clients at Scale to Sale to leverage trust-based marketing.

Cold Pitching Is Killing Your Brand

Tom gets pitched daily—for a podcast he doesn’t even host. That’s how broken this space is.

Then there’s Karen Schwab—his wife, business partner, and strategic ninja.

She didn’t pitch. She placed.

• She followed my posts

• She commented on content

• She introduced five aligned guests (I booked three)

Why? Because she respected my audience. And in podcasting, that’s everything.

This is why at Scale to Sale, we train clients to earn the mic through the Testimonial Waterfall—where your customers become your marketing and referrals replace cold outreach.

👉 Learn the full Testimonial Waterfall System

Podcasters Want 3 Types of Guests:

1. Friends

2. Friends of friends

3. People they want to be friends with

That’s it. You don’t need a massive following. You need relationship leverage and a non-transactional track record.

“Podcasting reveals who you really are. You can’t fake it every week.”
— Tom Schwab

The Hippocratic Marketing Oath

Tom lives by this: “First, do no harm.”

Here’s your new guesting playbook:

• Don’t sell from the mic

• Don’t cold-email people like they owe you airtime

• Don’t confuse your product with your value

Instead:

• Share a framework

• Offer a resource

• Serve the host’s mission
  

“The best way to sell is to earn the respect, awareness, and trust of those who might buy.”
— Rand Fishkin

Relationships Are the Real Algorithm

This isn’t growth hacking. It’s trust stacking.

Karen places people. Tom built systems around that approach. And at Scale to Sale, we’re replicating that model across:

• Podcast guest training

• Organic marketing systems

• Course + content repurposing

• SEO-first strategy using real conversations
  
  

See how we apply this in The Funnel That Ranks.

How to Actually Get Booked on the Right Podcasts

If you want to build podcast authority:

1. Engage first: Comment, review, share.

2. Serve early: Offer value before asking.

3. Ask later: Only when you've earned it.
   

That’s what we coach inside Scale to Sale’s Organic Marketing Audit.

👉 Book your audit here

Why I Don’t Sell On My Podcast (Even Though I Could)

I’ve run agencies. Scaled companies. Built funnels that print.

But on Scale to Sale, I don’t sell—because this show isn’t mine. It’s yours.

This platform is powered by the audience, and like I share in Own Your Turf, podcasting is the only algorithm-proof distribution channel we still own.

I let the audience do the selling.
I let the Testimonial Waterfall do the marketing.
I let trust do the talking.

Final Thought: Reputation Beats Reach

Podcasting is a trust engine.

Every guest is a brand extension.
Every episode is an audition.
Every listener is a future referral—or repeller.

So, are you introducing people… or just pitching names?

If it’s the latter, stop. Rewind this episode. And do better.

LISTEN TO EPISODE 16:

“Stop Pitching Podcasts—Start Building Relationships (feat. Tom Schwab of Interview Valet)”

🎧 Listen on Spotify