# Let's Make A Podcast

> Let's Make A Podcast is the marketplace connecting podcast hosts with guests: hosts find relevant guests for their show, and guests get booked on podcasts that fit their expertise. Discovery, pitching, and scheduling in one place.

Free, no-login tools and a directory of 384 real podcasts, with feed recency shown where measured, help guests find and pitch the right shows; in-depth guides help hosts and guests do it well. Operated by BLRB Digital. Canonical site: https://letsmakeapodcast.com.

## Free tools
- [Find Podcasts To Pitch](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/tools/find-podcasts-to-pitch): Search hundreds of real shows by topic, niche, or host, check measured feed recency, then see how to get booked on each one.
- [Podcast Pitch Generator](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/tools/podcast-pitch-generator): Fill in a few fields and get a personalized cold pitch, subject line included, built on the structure hosts say yes to.
- [Podcast Pitch Grader](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/tools/pitch-grader): Paste a pitch and get an instant score out of 100 with a specific fix for everything that would get it ignored.
- [Podcast Guest Readiness Check](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/tools/podcast-guest-readiness): For HOSTS: paste a show's RSS feed and get the 0-100 guest-readiness score our directory ranks shows on, read only from the feed (guest evidence in recent titles, publish recency, cadence, and whether a contact route is published), with the specific tags that are missing.
- [Podcast Guest Invitation Generator](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/tools/podcast-guest-invitation): For HOSTS: write the invitation email you send a guest you want. Fill in who they are, what the episode covers and what the recording asks of them, and it assembles an invite in that order. Runs entirely in the browser, nothing typed is sent or stored, and it never adds an audience claim you did not type.
- [Guest One-Sheet Builder](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/tools/guest-one-sheet-builder): Assemble the clean, copy-paste guest one-sheet (media kit) hosts ask for: headline, bio, topics, proof, sample questions.

## Original research
- [Which Podcasts Actually Book Guests?](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/research/which-podcasts-book-guests): Original study of 384 podcasts, 362 public RSS feeds read (2026-08-26). Findings: only 31% of shows publish any checkable evidence that they book guests; 23% have not published in roughly six months; 19% are network run. Contrary to standard advice, ESTABLISHED shows scored more open to a cold guest pitch (54/100) than smaller ones (43/100): the barrier is a network booking desk (36/100), not audience size (independent shows 49/100). The most pitchable cohort is the big independent show (60/100). Free to reuse with attribution, CC BY 4.0.
- [Research dataset (CSV)](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/research/which-podcasts-book-guests/data.csv): The full corpus behind the study: 362 podcasts, one row each, with the feed facts read and the 0-100 openness score derived from them. CC BY 4.0, free for commercial reuse with credit. Note the column is publishes_guest_evidence, not "books guests": it records only what a show publishes where a listener can check it, never what it does off the feed.
- [Research dataset (JSON)](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/research/which-podcasts-book-guests/data.json): The same rows plus a meta block carrying the method, the licence and the four stated limitations, so the caveats travel with the data.
- Cite the dataset as: Let's Make A Podcast (2026). Which Podcasts Actually Book Outside Guests? Guest-Openness Scores for 362 Shows [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21310079 (archived, versioned, CC BY 4.0)

## Guides

### What it costs
Fees, rates and who pays whom, with our own measured figures where we have them.
- [Podcast Sponsorship Rates](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/podcast-sponsorship-rates): For hosts. Current CPM benchmarks, worked campaign costs, and a practical rate-card formula for hosts and advertisers.
- [Do Podcast Guests Get Paid?](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/do-podcast-guests-get-paid): For hosts & guests. Why the norm is $0 in both directions, the few cases where money does change hands, and what a guest spot is actually worth.
- [How Much Does It Cost to Be a Podcast Guest?](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/how-much-does-it-cost-to-be-a-podcast-guest): For guests. Getting booked can cost nothing but time. The honest price of every path, from free DIY outreach to paid databases and agency retainers, and the research cost almost nobody counts.
- [How Much Does a Podcast Booking Agency Cost?](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/how-much-does-a-podcast-booking-agency-cost): For guests. Nobody in the done-for-you category publishes one: 6 of 8 named services publish a price and the 2 booking agencies publish none. So we priced the work instead, down to the 76 shows worth pitching.
- [How Much Does It Cost to Find Podcast Guests?](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/how-much-does-it-cost-to-find-podcast-guests): For hosts. The host's side of the money question, priced per booking rather than per month. 2357 guest chairs a year across 278 live shows, and a median of 26 for the shows that fill any.
- [How Much Do Podcasts Make?](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/how-much-do-podcasts-make): For hosts. The third number in the earnings equation, and the only public one: 278 live shows publish a median of 52 episodes a year, which is how many ad slots exist to sell.
- [How Much Does Podcast Hosting Cost?](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/how-much-does-podcast-hosting-cost): For hosts. Six hosts, read off their own pricing pages on one day. Two of them will host a show for nothing, the free tiers have conditions worth reading, and every paid plan costs less than one sponsored slot.

### Platforms, agencies and tools
How the booking platforms, matchmaking services and agencies in this market compare.
- [Podcast Booking Agencies: Costs & When They're Worth It](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/podcast-booking-agencies): For guests. What booking agencies actually do, the retainers they really charge, the pay-to-play red flags, and how to decide between an agency, DIY, and the tools in between.
- [Best Podcast Guest Booking Platforms](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/best-podcast-guest-booking-platforms): For hosts & guests. An honest map of every way to book guests: matching marketplaces, databases, agencies, and direct outreach, with the real pros, cons, and costs.
- [Best Podcast Pitch Tools](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/best-podcast-pitch-tools): For guests. Compare finders, research databases, generators, graders, and outreach trackers by the bottleneck each one actually solves.
- [Best Podcast Matchmaking Services](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/best-podcast-matchmaking-services): For hosts & guests. Compare marketplaces, directories, communities, and done-for-you booking services by fit, effort, control, and cost.
- [PodMatch Alternatives](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/podmatch-alternatives): For hosts & guests. Marketplaces, databases, agencies, or your own outreach: compare the alternatives by the trade-off each one asks you to make, not by the logo.
- [PodMatch vs MatchMaker.fm](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/podmatch-vs-matchmaker-fm): For hosts & guests. One pushes matches at you, the other hands you a pool to search, and they are priced accordingly. Both on their own published terms, plus the 242 podcasts we measured that you can reach without either subscription.
- [Podchaser vs Listen Notes](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/podchaser-vs-listen-notes): For hosts & guests. One indexes who has guested where, the other indexes what was said in every episode. Both on their own published terms, plus the 84 shows in our feed read that a database would still hand you after they went quiet.
- [Do Podcast Matching Services Actually Work?](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/do-podcast-matching-services-work): For hosts & guests. They sell searching, ranking and booking admin, not access: 242 of the podcast feeds we read publish a contact route anyone can use free. What a subscription can and cannot buy, and the 5 platforms you can look inside before paying.

### Choosing which shows to pitch
Which podcasts are worth a pitch, cut from our own directory of real shows.
- [Podcasts Looking for Guests](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/podcasts-looking-for-guests): For guests. Nobody can tell you which shows want a guest today. We can tell you which ones publish proof they book them, named show by named show, from 362 feeds we read.
- [How Many Podcasts Should You Pitch?](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/how-many-podcasts-should-you-pitch): For guests. Nobody can honestly quote you a reply rate. We qualified 384 real shows check by check: 76 survived all four, which is what should size your list.
- [Should You Pitch Small Podcasts?](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/should-you-pitch-small-podcasts): For guests. Everyone says start small. We split 362 real feeds by size: only 38% of the smallest had published within six months, against 96% of the biggest.
- [Should You Pitch Podcasts on a Network?](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/should-you-pitch-network-podcasts): For guests. A network means a booking desk in the way. Across 362 feeds, 22% of network shows and 21% of independents passed the same three checks, for opposite reasons.
- [Should You Pitch Weekly Podcasts?](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/should-you-pitch-weekly-podcasts): For guests. A weekly show fills a slot every week, so surely it wants guests more. Across 361 feeds the guest-evidence rate barely moved with pace: 19% at the fastest, 31% at the slowest.
- [Should You Pitch Short Podcasts?](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/should-you-pitch-short-podcasts): For guests. Nobody screens a show list on episode length. Across 335 feeds it separated them better than size or schedule: 11% of shows under 20 minutes publish guest evidence, against 37% above it.
- [Which Podcast Niches Actually Book Guests?](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/which-podcast-niches-book-guests): For guests. Pick a guest-friendly topic and the rest gets easier. Across 16 topics, the one whose shows advertise guests most (58%) is also one of the likeliest to have stopped publishing.
- [Podcast Niches](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/podcast-niches): For hosts & guests. Every list of podcast niches is a brainstorm. We read 362 feeds across 16 of them and measured how many shows had quit and how many book guests.
- [Should You Pitch Podcasts That Link to Their Guests?](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/should-you-pitch-podcasts-that-link-to-guests): For guests. The shortlist you built is still publishing, reachable and visibly booking guests. We checked whether it also links: 78% of its guest episodes link out, against 79% of everyone else's. The checks predict nothing here.
- [Podcast Guest Statistics](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/podcast-guest-statistics): For hosts & guests. Every figure we have measured about podcast guest booking in one place: 362 feeds read, 31% publishing visible guest evidence, and the denominator and read date under each one.

### Sizing up one show
The checks worth running on a single named show before you spend a pitch on it.
- [How Often Do Podcasts Actually Have Guests?](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/how-often-do-podcasts-have-guests): For guests. A list of thirty shows reads as thirty chances. Across 278 feeds we read that were still publishing, we can see about 2357 guest seats a year, and ten shows hold 47% of them.
- [Does This Podcast Interview Guests?](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/does-this-podcast-interview-guests): For guests. The blurb and the episode titles are the two ways to check, and they barely agree. 70 shows say they interview guests, 54 credit one in a recent title, 11 do both.
- [Is This Podcast Still Active?](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/is-this-podcast-still-active): For guests. A quarter of the shows worth pitching have quietly stopped publishing, and your research will hand you those first. 84 of 362 feeds we read had gone six months silent.
- [Should You Accept a Podcast Invitation?](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/should-you-accept-a-podcast-invitation): For guests. An invitation is the one booking you did no research for. 23% of the feeds we read had gone quiet and 69% publish nothing a guest can check. Five checks, four minutes.
- [How Many Episodes Should You Check Before Pitching?](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/how-many-episodes-to-check-before-you-pitch): For guests. Everyone opens the feed, reads the first screen and decides. We read 358 feeds twice on one day: a 5-episode scan misses 54.8% of the shows that visibly book guests.
- [How to Vet a Podcast Guest](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/how-to-vet-a-podcast-guest): For hosts. Every guide says check their past appearances. We measured it: a glance at a show's recent episodes surfaces its guest bookings 46.2% of the time.

### Writing and sending the pitch
The outreach itself: who to send it to, what goes in it, and how to send it.
- [How to Get Booked as a Podcast Guest](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/how-to-get-booked-as-a-podcast-guest): For guests. Build a one-sheet hosts say yes to, find the right shows, write pitches that land, and become the guest hosts refer.
- [How to Contact a Podcast Host](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/how-to-contact-a-podcast-host): For guests. Every other guide lists the routes you could try, in an order somebody guessed. We read 362 feeds and measured which one shows actually publish.
- [Podcast Guest Pitch Template](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/podcast-guest-pitch-template): For guests. Copy-paste pitch templates that get you booked: a cold pitch, a warm intro, and a follow-up, plus subject lines that get opened.
- [Why You Can't Find a Podcast Host's Email](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/why-you-cant-find-a-podcast-hosts-email): For guests. A missing address is usually a fact about the show's publishing software, not about the host. Across 361 feeds matched to the platform that built them, the no-door rate runs 0% to 70%.

### The interview itself
Preparing for the conversation, running it well, and the one-sheet hosts ask for.
- [How to Prepare for a Podcast Interview](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/how-to-prepare-for-a-podcast-interview): For guests. The complete guest checklist: research the show, shape your stories, set up clean audio, and turn the episode into real results.
- [The Podcast Guest One-Sheet](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/podcast-guest-one-sheet): For guests. What to put on your guest media kit, a copy-paste template to fill in, and the details that get you invited instead of skipped.
- [Questions to Ask a Podcast Guest](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/questions-to-ask-a-podcast-guest): For hosts. A copy-paste bank of 50+ interview questions, how to structure the conversation, and the questions that quietly kill an episode.

### After the episode
Getting the episode, and the show it ran on, heard once it is published.
- [How to Promote Your Podcast Guest Appearance](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/how-to-promote-your-podcast-guest-appearance): For guests. The post-interview playbook: grab your assets, work launch day, repurpose one episode into weeks of content, capture the backlink, and earn your next booking.
- [How to Promote a Podcast](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/how-to-promote-a-podcast): For hosts. A practical growth system for hosts: sharpen the promise, package each episode, borrow guest reach, build search demand, and measure what actually grows the show.
- [Do Podcasts Link to Their Guests?](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/do-podcasts-link-to-their-guests): For guests. The show-notes backlink is the second prize every guesting page sells. We read the notes of 13504 episodes across 361 shows: a guest episode carries 0.78 more outbound links than the same show's own, and for the median show it is 0.1.
- [Do Podcasts Publish Transcripts?](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/do-podcasts-publish-transcripts): For guests. A transcript is the one part of a guest appearance a search engine can read. 64 of 361 feeds publish one a machine can find, and the rate runs 64.5 points from the top publishing platform to zero. It is barely a property of the show.

### For hosts: booking guests
The host's side of the same table: sourcing, inviting and booking the guests you want.
- [How to Get Guests to Pitch Your Podcast](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/how-to-get-guests-to-pitch-your-podcast): For hosts. Guests screen shows before they write, using only what your feed publishes. We ran that screen across 384 shows: 76 survive it, and the last check removes 166 on its own.
- [How to Find Great Guests for Your Podcast](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/find-guests-for-your-podcast): For hosts. Source relevant guests, vet for audience fit, invite and schedule without the back-and-forth, and keep your pipeline full.
- [How to Book Podcast Guests](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/how-to-book-podcast-guests): For hosts. The booking loop that keeps a recording calendar full: build a target list, vet for audience fit, invite well, and schedule in one reply.
- [The Podcast Guest Outreach Email](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/podcast-guest-outreach-email): For hosts. Copy-paste invitation, warm intro, and follow-up emails, plus the subject lines and the six lines that get invitations ignored.
- [How to Get Better Podcast Guests](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/how-to-get-better-podcast-guests): For hosts. Define the conversation your audience needs, find people with first-hand stories, vet how they communicate, and make stronger guests want to say yes.
- [Is Your Podcast Too Small to Book Guests?](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/is-your-podcast-too-small-for-guests): For hosts. Every new host assumes the answer is yes. We split real podcast feeds by how much each has published: the share showing they book guests moves 4 points end to end.

### Starting a show
Making a podcast in the first place, for anyone not on either side of the mic yet.
- [How to Start an Interview Podcast](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/how-to-start-an-interview-podcast): For hosts. From a focused concept to your first published episode: format, gear, recording, and lining up your first guests before you hit record.
- [How to Make a Podcast](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn/how-to-make-a-podcast): For hosts. Idea to published episode: concept, format, the smallest setup that sounds good, recording, a light edit, the feed, and the guest pipeline that decides whether the show survives.

## Podcast directory
- [Technology podcasts](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/podcasts/technology): Shows covering software, AI, gadgets, and the people building the future. A strong fit for founders, engineers, and product experts who want to be guests.
- [Business podcasts](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/podcasts/business): Interview shows on running and growing companies. Operators, executives, and consultants make natural guests here.
- [Entrepreneurship podcasts](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/podcasts/entrepreneurship): Podcasts built around founder stories and the craft of building a company. Ideal for founders and early-stage operators who want a mic.
- [Startups podcasts](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/podcasts/startups): Shows focused on the earliest days of a company: fundraising, product, and go-to-market. Founders and investors are the go-to guests.
- [Marketing podcasts](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/podcasts/marketing): Podcasts on brand, growth, content, and demand. Marketers, agency owners, and growth leads make great guests.
- [Health & Fitness podcasts](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/podcasts/health-and-fitness): Shows on training, nutrition, longevity, and physical performance. Coaches, clinicians, and researchers are welcome guests.
- [Mental Health podcasts](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/podcasts/mental-health): Podcasts on psychology, therapy, and emotional wellbeing. Therapists, researchers, and lived-experience experts are frequent guests.
- [Finance & Investing podcasts](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/podcasts/finance-and-investing): Shows on markets, personal finance, and investing strategy. Analysts, advisors, and founders in fintech make strong guests.
- [Leadership podcasts](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/podcasts/leadership): Podcasts on management, culture, and leading teams. Executives, coaches, and authors are the natural fit.
- [Self-Improvement podcasts](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/podcasts/self-improvement): Shows on habits, productivity, and personal growth. Coaches, authors, and researchers make compelling guests.
- [Science podcasts](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/podcasts/science): Podcasts explaining research and discovery for a curious audience. Scientists, academics, and communicators are welcome guests.
- [Education podcasts](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/podcasts/education): Shows on learning, teaching, and the future of education. Educators, founders, and researchers are common guests.
- [Careers podcasts](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/podcasts/careers): Podcasts on work, hiring, and building a career. Recruiters, coaches, and people leaders make useful guests.
- [Real Estate podcasts](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/podcasts/real-estate): Shows on investing, agents, and the property market. Investors, brokers, and operators are the go-to guests.
- [Nutrition podcasts](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/podcasts/nutrition): Shows on food, diet, metabolic health, and how people actually eat. Dietitians, food scientists, coaches, and clinicians make credible guests here.
- [Sobriety & Recovery podcasts](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/podcasts/sobriety): Shows about quitting drinking, sober curiosity, and long-term recovery. Clinicians, coaches, researchers, and people with lived experience are all booked as guests here.

## Core pages
- [Home](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/): What the marketplace does and who it is for.
- [Browse members](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/browse): Search live hosts and guests on the platform by topic; deep-linkable via ?q= and ?mode=.
- [Podcast directory](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/podcasts): Directory hub covering 384 real shows across 16 niches, with feed recency shown where measured.
- [Guides & resources](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/learn): Practical guides for podcast hosts and guests on booking, pitching, and making better shows.
- [Free tools](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/tools): Every free, no-login tool for hosts and guests in one place.
- [For podcast hosts](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/for-hosts): The host side in one place: the two free host tools, three host-facing readings of our own directory of real podcast feeds, and every guide on sourcing, inviting and booking podcast guests.
- [AI Booking Concierge](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/concierge): Our paid done-for-you service, in early access: we research shows that fit a guest, draft a personal pitch for each one, and send only the pitches that guest approves. Priced well under an agency retainer. Nothing is sent without approval.
- [Pricing](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/pricing): Free while the marketplace is in early access: profiles, discovery, pitching and the free tools cost nothing today. Guest Pro and the AI booking concierge are planned at prices shown on the page, and are not yet charged.
- [Sign up](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/signup): Create a free host or guest profile.
- [About](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/about): Who publishes this site and the research on it: BLRB Digital, and the open-by-default position behind listing shows from their own public feeds.
- [Contact](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/contact): How to reach us: list or claim a show, ask for a listing to be removed, or report a bug.
- [Imprint & operator information](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/imprint): Operator of record and postal contact details for Let's Make A Podcast.

## Optional
- [Privacy Policy](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/privacy)
- [Terms of Service](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/terms)
- [XML sitemap](https://letsmakeapodcast.com/sitemap.xml)