Robb Conlon is Getting Fed with a Firehose
Robb Conlon of B2B Business Class and Westport Studios once got a guest pitch so long and so self-focused that he stopped after the first sentence. It was 500 to 600 words, and he kept it. It's since turned up in a Captivate slide deck on LinkedIn as an example of a terrible podcast pitch. Dave Jackson explains why you should find out if a host is interested before sending the "War and Peace" version of your media kit. Robb then describes the guest he actually wants: someone with small-business knowledge his audience hasn't heard yet.
In This Episode:
- The bad pitch: A 500–600 word pitch that was all about the sender and nothing about the show or its listeners.
- Dave's elevator pitch test: If your short pitch doesn't get a "tell me more," that person probably isn't your audience. Start short and let interest pull out the details.
- Do I smell AI? Why pages-long bios make hosts suspicious.
- Robb's perfect guest: Someone who can teach business owners something they don't know yet, like a recent B2B Business Class guest who covered AEO (answer engine optimization). His listeners run small businesses and usually don't have specialists on staff, so he wants guests with a fun story and knowledge that makes jaws drop.
- New from PodPage: Guest intake form submissions now show up at pitchapodcast.com/guest, and hosts can choose which past guests appear at the top of the list.
Key Takeaway:
Lead with what the host's audience gets from you, not your life story. If they're interested, they'll ask for more.
Links & Resources:
- Robb Conlon / B2B Business Class: westportstudiosllc.com
- Captivate: captivate.fm
- PodPage: podpage.com
- School of Podcasting: schoolofpodcasting.com
- Share your pitch story and your perfect guest: pitchapodcast.com/story
- Previous Guests: pitchapodcast.com/guests
Mentioned in this episode:
Share Your Story and Get FREE Promotion For Your Show
We all get bad (and occasionally GOOD) pitches. The next time you get one, share it us by going to www.pitchapodcast.com/story and upload your story, and provide some links to your show.
Free Podcast Tips
00:00 - Untitled
00:21 - Maybe Wait to be Asked For More Information
00:48 - Robb Conlon's Story
01:46 - Robb's Perfect Guest
03:34 - Featured Guests on Podpage
David Jackson:
Oh, we got Rob Conlin from West Point Studios.
David Jackson:
How to Pitch a Podcast LLC. How to Pitch a Podcast is where bad
David Jackson:
pitches get called out and better ones get made. Real
David Jackson:
examples, real feedback, and smarter ways to get booked.
David Jackson:
pitchapodcast.com. How to Pitch a Podcast? Oh, Rob sent this in,
David Jackson:
and I always think of this: if somebody, if you're in an
David Jackson:
elevator, and somebody looks at your shirt or whatever and goes,
David Jackson:
"Oh, do you do podcasting? and so you throw out your elevator
David Jackson:
pitch. Yes, we do blank so people like this can benefit
David Jackson:
this way. Whatever the elevator pitch is. If they then don't go,
David Jackson:
oh well, tell me more about it. There's a really good chance
David Jackson:
they're not your target audience, but that's not the
David Jackson:
case with Rob. He's got somebody that's feeding him with a fire
David Jackson:
hose.
Robb Conlon:
Hey there, Dave. This is Robb Conlon from B 2b
Robb Conlon:
Business Class at Westport Studios llc.com. I'm a podcast
Robb Conlon:
production partner for folks, and my pitch story is the time
Robb Conlon:
the guy wrote me an absolute novel on himself. It was so far
Robb Conlon:
up his own backside; it wasn't even funny how bad this was. I
Robb Conlon:
read the first sentence, but this thing had to be five or 600
Robb Conlon:
words. It was unbelievable. I still kept it, and actually, I
Robb Conlon:
shared it with with Trent Anderson. He's from Captivate,
Robb Conlon:
if I'm not mistaken. And they they popped it in one of their
Robb Conlon:
their slide decks on LinkedIn lately as as an example of
Robb Conlon:
terrible podcast pitch.
David Jackson:
Yeah, you might want to see if someone's even
David Jackson:
interested before you drop the War and Peace version of your
David Jackson:
media kit on them. In just a second, we're going to hear
David Jackson:
about what Rob is looking for in a guest. How to pitch a podcast?
Unknown:
But you know, my perfect guest is my business
Unknown:
show again. B 2b business class is somebody who can talk about
Unknown:
something that people in business don't know yet. Had a
Unknown:
great episode about this with a gal here just last week who
Unknown:
spoke about AEO, answer engine optimization. Something I'd
Unknown:
never heard of, and I'm sure that's something that 95, 98% of
Unknown:
business owners had never heard of. And I love to bring that to
Unknown:
my people as far as like a what they can expect from my show.
Unknown:
You know, my audience has a small business. My audience
Unknown:
doesn't know these things. Doesn't have a specialist for
Unknown:
this. Somebody who would be a great guest for me. I've I've
Unknown:
had you know there's not really necessarily a bucket list guest
Unknown:
for me, but I want that person who has that that fun story,
Unknown:
that just jaw dropping like small business knowledge, that's
Unknown:
who I'd be looking for. Thanks for listening. This is Rob
Unknown:
Conlin from B 2b Business Class, and again, my website
Unknown:
westportstudioslc.com.
David Jackson:
Robb, thank you so much for that. And yeah,
David Jackson:
anytime I see a really long bio like pages, there's a big part
David Jackson:
of me that goes, "Do I smell AI here? Yeah, that's always fun.
David Jackson:
One last thing here before we head out the door. As I am the
David Jackson:
head of podcasting at Pod Page, and since we talk about guesting
David Jackson:
on this show, if you didn't know, when people fill out a
David Jackson:
guest intake form on this show, it automatically goes to
David Jackson:
pitchapodcast.com/guest. Now I think I have them sorted by
David Jackson:
alphabetical order, but if I wanted to, I could say, "Oh
David Jackson:
look, this person's a big shot smarty pants, and she's a big
David Jackson:
shot smarty pants. Let's put them at the top of the list. So
David Jackson:
if I'm trying to get guests for my show, I can say and here are
David Jackson:
all the people that have been on my show, and then you would see
David Jackson:
the Big Shot Smarty Pants people at the top. So I just want to
David Jackson:
throw that in there. That's that's new from Pod Page, and of
David Jackson:
course, if you go out to pitchapodcast.com/story, we can
David Jackson:
hear your smiling voice right here on the show, both
David Jackson:
explaining a good or bad pitch that you received, and of
David Jackson:
course, who your target guest would be-your perfect guest,
David Jackson:
shall we say? I'm Dave Jackson, head of podcasting at PodPage,
David Jackson:
and the founder of the School of podcasting.com. Thanks so much
David Jackson:
for listening. We'll see you again real soon with another
David Jackson:
episode of How to Pitch a Podcast.
Unknown:
How to Pitch a Podcast.
Founder
Robb Conlon didn’t always plan on running a thriving podcast agency. But with his experience in radio, with degrees in broadcast communication and digital media, he saw podcast production as an exciting way to use his skills. He dove headfirst into the industry in 2021 and discovered how much he enjoyed helping podcasters develop their niche audience. Clients loved him and his career was headed in a great direction, when his employer wrote in a plot twist: Robb’s work was outsourced (surprise!) and his position, and half of his department, was terminated.
And so Robb did what a lot of entrepreneurs do. He leveraged his final $26 and launched a business, with a commitment to putting the needs of clients and his team first.
More than five years and 40 clients later, Westport Studios has emerged as a beacon in B2B podcasting, highlighting what’s possible when you build something aligned with your core values.
