How to find guests for your podcast
Start with an episode idea, find people who have something useful to say about it, and send an invitation with the details.
A guest who has just done the thing you want to discuss often beats the most famous name in the field; the story is still fresh for them, and for your listeners.
Start from the episode idea, then look for the person who can make the conversation worth listening to.
Search around the episode
For an episode about going from freelance work to a small agency, you could ask ReacherX:
Find people on X/Twitter and LinkedIn who have shared their experience hiring their first teammate after freelancing. I'm looking for a podcast guest who can talk about what changed and what went wrong.
Read what the results have shared. Is there enough to build a conversation around? Can you think of two or three questions you'd want to ask this person?
If you can't, narrow the episode idea before reaching out. A narrower idea also makes the invitation easier to write.
Put the useful details in the invitation
Explain the topic, format, and time involved. For example:
I host a podcast for freelancers. Your post about hiring your first designer raised a question I'd like to explore: how do you hand over client work without reviewing every detail? Would you be open to a 30-minute recorded conversation about it?
Add a link to an episode so they can hear what the show is like. Mention whether the recording includes video and where you'll publish it.
You can ask ReacherX to help prepare the invitation, but keep the question that made you interested in this guest.
Make saying yes easy
Offer a few possible times and explain what preparation, if any, you need. If they ask about your audience, give an honest answer.
Use the conversation to follow up and answer questions.