Comparison
Convokast vs doing it yourself
DIY podcast outreach costs nothing but time, and the time is the reason most founders stop after three appearances. Here is the honest arithmetic.
When doing it yourself is the better call: Your first handful of appearances. You learn what the pitch looks like from the inside, you find out whether you enjoy it, and you build the judgment to know whether an agency is doing good work later.
Doing it yourself is not a bad option and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise. It is how most founders should start.
| Convokast | Doing it yourself | |
|---|---|---|
| Cash cost | $499/month | $0 to $200 in tools |
| Your time | About an hour per interview | Roughly 15–20 hours a month |
| Show research | Done for you | Yours |
| Pitch writing | Done for you | Yours |
| Follow-up | Done for you | Yours, and this is where most people stop |
| Scheduling | Done for you | Yours |
| Consistency | Guaranteed monthly minimum | Whatever survives a busy quarter |
What kills it is almost never the pitching. It is the follow-up. Most bookings come from a second or third touch a week to ten days apart, which means holding a tracker and doing unglamorous admin during a month when something more urgent is always happening. The appearances stop, and the conclusion drawn is usually that podcast guesting did not work.
The case for paying someone is narrow and specific: it is a case about consistency, not about access. If you can genuinely hold fifteen hours a month for this indefinitely, keep the money.
Common questions
How long does DIY podcast outreach actually take?
Budget 15 to 20 hours a month to sustain a real cadence: finding and qualifying shows, writing pitches that are not templates, running two follow-ups per target, and handling scheduling across time zones. The first month is heavier because the research is all new.
What is the single hardest part to keep up?
Follow-up. It is unrewarding, it feels intrusive, and it is where most of the bookings actually come from. Almost everyone who tries DIY under-does this part.
Next step
Decide with a conversation.
Tell us your topic. We will tell you honestly whether we are the right fit.
Free 20-minute call. If we are not a fit, we will say so.