Five things, written down, that most agencies leave vague.
A retainer with a guarantee attached can’t start on a hunch. The Blueprint replaces the hunch.
Your ideal customer, defined
- Industry, company size, seniority and who signs — the four terms the guarantee is written on
- Written with you, not for you: you know your buyer better than we do
- Every guest we book is measured against this, so it has to be precise enough to say no to
Your first target list
- Your named dream accounts first — the companies you most want to work with
- Then the wider pool that matches the profile, researched by us
- You approve every name before anyone is contacted
Your podcast’s positioning
- A name, a premise, and a reason your buyer says yes to being on it
- Built around their world, not yours — the guest is the expert
- Tested against the list: would the people on it actually want to be interviewed for this?
The invitation angle
- What a producer says to your buyer, and why it isn’t a pitch
- The vetting criteria for the producer’s call, so “qualified” means the same thing to both of us
- What “Off-Mic” looks like for your business — the useful, no-strings follow-up after each recording
Your number
- How many conversations your market can realistically produce every 90 days
- The forecast behind it: list size, expected reply and booking rates for buyers like yours
- This becomes the guarantee. We only write it down once we believe it.
Because a guarantee written on a guess isn’t worth having.
Defining a buyer precisely enough to guarantee conversations with them takes days, not a discovery call. You get the document either way.
The number we guarantee comes out of the Blueprint. If the Blueprint is loose, the guarantee is fiction. Paying for it is what keeps it honest.
If you don’t continue, you still own an ideal-customer profile, a target list and a podcast concept. Most agencies charge for that as “strategy” and never build the rest.
A Blueprint versus a proposal.
Most agencies discover on a call and send a proposal. We do the discovery as work product.
| Pipeline Blueprint | A typical agency proposal | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | A written ICP, an approved target list, a podcast concept, and a guaranteed number | A deck describing services |
| Who does the thinking | Both of us, over days | A salesperson, over an hour |
| When you commit to the retainer | After you’ve seen the list and the number | Before you know either |
| If you walk away | You keep everything | You keep the deck |
| What the guarantee is written on | This document | Nothing specific |
Questions, answered.
Is the Blueprint credited against the retainer?
No. It’s paid on its own, on top of the engagement. It’s real work with a real output, and it’s yours whether or not you continue.
How long does it take?
Days, not weeks. Most of the time is on the list — researching several hundred people who match your profile is the part that can’t be rushed.
What if the number you scope is lower than I hoped?
Then you’ve learned something true about your market before spending a year finding out. We’d rather guarantee eight and hit it than promise fifteen and explain.
What does it cost?
Every podcast is custom. Pricing for the Blueprint and the engagement is confirmed on the strategy call.