Industry Insights: Wil Slickers, Founder: Hospitality.FM & Host: Slick Talk, The Hospitality Podcast

In our Industry Insights series, we take the opportunity to interview leaders of interest in the communications, marketing, hospitality, or travel industries. This month, we had the pleasure to meet with Wil Slickers, founder of hospitality podcast network Hospitality.FM, as well as the host of Slick Talk: The Hospitality Podcast. Wil’s experience in hotels, vacation rentals, and podcasting has positioned him as an expert by honing in on the latest trends in hospitality and podcasts. 

During our hour-long conversation, we discussed what podcasters can do better, the hardest part of pitching podcasters, and how knowing relevant trends and topics can help with pitching thought leadership and story opportunities. Below, a few key questions and answers from both Wil and the CIIC PR team. 

CIIC PR Q: What is the hardest part of podcasting? 

Wil: For me, and probably other podcasters, calendar management is probably the hardest part. Planning out topics ahead of time, deciding what the publishing date is, and preparing for pre-chats and recording days can be a lot of work. The day of recording can also be hard because if not enough preparation is done, the flow can get messed up. One suggestion I have that is really helpful for clients when preparing for interviews is to practice with a microphone in front of them that is not plugged in. This will help them to get comfortable with the process. 

CIIC PR Q: When it comes to pitching podcasters, is there something similar to an editorial calendar? 

Wil: There isn’t necessarily an editorial calendar that podcasters have, but something that can be done is asking podcasters about their episode queues. When pitching, it could be helpful to ask how much space do you have available for new episodes?. When are your publishing dates? And how many days do you have in your queue? These few questions can help both parties with the planning and coordination of dates. 

CIIC PR Q: What are some qualities that attract you to pitches? 

Wil: When it comes to receiving pitches, it’s pretty much up to the podcaster and what grabs their attention. Personally, at The Hospitality Podcast, we like for them to be short, sweet, and more personal and conversational. Meaning, when pitching a client, be sure to be creative with your words. Learn the format of the podcasts, make some kind of connection between the podcast and the client, and make it more about the clients' story instead of their brand or product.  

Will Q: What are a few things podcasters do better with when it comes to pitches and choosing interviewees? 

CIIC PR: Something we would love to see from podcasters is a better understanding of the clients we are pitching. Similar to doing research on outlets or podcasts, if a quick search was conducted on the podcasters' side, there could be a better possibility for a response back to the pitch or even an interview set up. Another practice that could be done is opening up the idea of a preliminary introduction call. We think an intro call would better prepare clients for the interview as well as help with creating a relationship with the client and podcaster before the real interviewing begins. 

CIIC PR Q: A fun question - what are a few of your favorite podcasts? 

Wil: Aside from a few other hospitality podcasts, I really enjoy The Pitch, My Favorite Murder, Behind the Stays, and Crime Junkie with Ashley Flowers. 

About Wil Slickers

Wil Slickers started his career working for a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel in Spokane, Washington, and shortly realized his passion for people and hospitality was his dream life and career. From there, he went on to manage a small collection of independent properties and restaurants while starting his podcast. During this time his podcast started to take shape which lead Wil to take the risk to quit his day job and venture out to run the podcast full-time right before the start of 2020. Now, with a high demand for content, tools, and resources for anything involving hospitality, Wil has dedicated his time to individual and big-name operators in the vacation rental and boutique hotel segments of hospitality while still growing the show and industry network globally. For more information, follow the link to the webpage https://www.slicktalkthepodcast.com/ and follow him on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.