The best part of having my own show is the people I get to talk to. I ranked my top 10 guests with the same 30-point score I use for everything else. If you only watch a few episodes, watch these.
Here's my number one: Michael Stelzner of Social Media Examiner on the Coach Yu Show, explaining how he spots trends before they take off.
The short version:
- 1. Michael Stelzner: 28/30
- 2. David Carroll: 27/30
- 3. Scott Richter: 25/30
- 4. Dan Antonelli: 24/30
- 5. Shep Hyken: 23/30
- 6. Harry Gold: 23/30
- 7. Nathaniel Stevens: 23/30
- 8. Kevin Lee: 21/30
- 9. Liana Ling: 20/30
- 10. Kirt Box: 20/30
This is the companion to my top 10 podcast appearances, where I'm the guest on other people's shows.
How I scored each guest
The score is our 30-point authority scale. It gives up to 10 points each for three questions: Who is talking, Where it was said, and What it is about. We use the same scale to decide which proof goes first on a page. A big name saying something on a big stage about our core topics beats a small mention every time.
- Who (10): The guest's credentials. A 10 founded a category. A 9 is a bestselling author, a nine-figure exit, or the number one name in an industry.
- Where (10): How many people the guest reaches. I took the higher of the guest's own platform (YouTube subscribers or Apple ratings) or the views on our episode (250K or more is a 9, 10K is a 6, 5K is a 5, 1K is a 4).
- What (10): The same test as my appearances list. It starts at 4, then adds points for a core topic, a specific story, a public video, 30 minutes or more, and airing in 2024 or later.
I scored every guest interview I could play today on the Coach Yu Show and my YouTube channel, 16 in all. My other show, the Marketing Mechanic, is just me, so it has no guests to rank. Numbers come from YouTube watch pages, Apple Podcasts, and each guest's official bio, checked on October 18, 2026. Ties go to the bigger Where score, then Who.
The scoreboard
| # | Guest | Episode | Aired | Who | Where | What | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Stelzner | How Michael Stelzner Predicts Trends Before They Explode | Mar 3, 2026 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 28 |
| 2 | David Carroll | How David Carroll Built Dope Marketing to a $100M Valuation | Jun 10, 2026 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 27 |
| 3 | Scott Richter | Scott Richter Won $1 Million LIVE on a Slot Machine | Jun 10, 2026 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 25 |
| 4 | Dan Antonelli | Dan Antonelli: The #1 Guy in Home Services Branding | Oct 20, 2025 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 24 |
| 5 | Shep Hyken | Dennis Yu and Shep Hyken: Building a Personal Brand Through Media and Content | Feb 27, 2025 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 23 |
| 6 | Harry Gold | How Harry Gold Sold His Agency for Life Changing Money | Jun 10, 2026 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 23 |
| 7 | Nathaniel Stevens | He Built a $342M Company While Still in College | Aug 29, 2026 | 9 | 4 | 10 | 23 |
| 8 | Kevin Lee | Kevin Lee's Framework for Dominating PPC, GEO, and the $100B Google Settlement | Jun 10, 2026 | 8 | 3 | 10 | 21 |
| 9 | Liana Ling | How Liana Ling Built a Marketing Reputation That Opens Every Door | Apr 20, 2026 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 20 |
| 10 | Kirt Box | Kirt Box Signed With Victory Archery by Building Real Relationships | Jun 10, 2026 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 20 |
My top 10 podcast guests
1. Michael Stelzner: 28/30
Episode: How Michael Stelzner Predicts Trends Before They Explode (The Coach Yu Show, Mar 3, 2026, 24 min). You can listen on Apple Podcasts.
Score: 28/30 (Who 10 + Where 9 + What 9)
Why they rank here: Mike founded Social Media Examiner and its Social Media Marketing World conference. It's the same reason his show ranks third on my appearances list. He gets a 10 for Who and a 9 for Where, with 345K YouTube subscribers and 1.4K Apple ratings.
What we talked about: Mike told me how he spots trends with surveys, Google Trends, and attendee feedback before he bets on them. He was also honest about the misses. His "Becoming Well Known" course flopped even though the surveys looked strong, and an early Web3 conference showed him that a big audience doesn't guarantee a new market. His rule: interest is not buying intent.
2. David Carroll: 27/30
Episode: How David Carroll Built Dope Marketing to a $100M Valuation (The Coach Yu Show, Jun 10, 2026 (YouTube Nov 10, 2025), 58 min). You can listen on Apple Podcasts.
Score: 27/30 (Who 8 + Where 9 + What 10)
Why they rank here: David built Dope Marketing into a company heading toward a $100 million valuation, starting from a window-cleaning business. This episode has 343,538 YouTube views. We promoted it with Dollar a Day, so part of that is paid reach, but it's still real people watching.
What we talked about: I've known David for more than 12 years. He was very open about his time in prison from age 21 to 25 and how it shaped the way he builds relationships. He told me what he's learned from Tommy Mello, Jesse Itzler, and Sara Blakely, and why he has zero interest in chasing a billion dollars.
More: my page on David Carroll.
3. Scott Richter: 25/30
Episode: Scott Richter Won $1 Million LIVE on a Slot Machine (The Coach Yu Show, Jun 10, 2026, 12 min). You can listen on Apple Podcasts.
Score: 25/30 (Who 7 + Where 9 + What 9)
Why they rank here: Scott was one of the biggest names in online marketing in the late '90s. Now he runs The Big Jackpot, a gambling channel with 684K YouTube subscribers and, by his count, 1.5 million followers across platforms. Who is a 7 because his marketing fame comes from the late '90s, not today.
What we talked about: I sat down with Scott in his penthouse suite at the Cosmopolitan during Super Bowl weekend. The month before, he hit a $1 million jackpot live on camera. We talked about how he reinvents himself, why his audience is so engaged, and the night he ran into Tim Cook at the casino. It's only 12 minutes, so it doesn't get the long-form point.
More: The Big Jackpot on YouTube.
4. Dan Antonelli: 24/30
Episode: Dan Antonelli: The #1 Guy in Home Services Branding (The Coach Yu Show, Oct 20, 2025, 36 min). You can listen on Apple Podcasts.
Score: 24/30 (Who 8 + Where 6 + What 10)
Why they rank here: Dan founded KickCharge Creative and has done more than 3,000 home service branding projects. Our episode has about 14,000 YouTube views. He scores a perfect 10 on What, because home service branding is right in the middle of my work.
What we talked about: Dan explained the "bland tax." That's what you pay when your brand looks like everyone else's. He showed how a real rebrand can bring 10 times the branded searches, and walked through Tommy Mello's rebrand. His favorite rule: your truck is your number one ad.
More: my page on Dan Antonelli.
5. Shep Hyken: 23/30
Episode: Dennis Yu and Shep Hyken: Building a Personal Brand Through Media and Content (Coach Yu Show conversation (BlitzMetrics YouTube), Feb 27, 2025, 35 min). You can watch on YouTube.
Score: 23/30 (Who 9 + Where 5 + What 9)
Why they rank here: Shep is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author and a member of the National Speakers Association Hall of Fame. That's a 9 for Who. His own show, Amazing Business Radio, has a perfect 5.0 rating from 89 reviews, which puts Where at 5.
What we talked about: Shep and I talked about building a personal brand through media and content, from two people who've each built one. I've also been a guest on his show, where I gave a TikTok guide for business in 2022.
More: Shep Hyken's site.
6. Harry Gold: 23/30
Episode: How Harry Gold Sold His Agency for Life Changing Money (The Coach Yu Show, Jun 10, 2026 (YouTube Apr 13, 2026), 101 min). You can listen on Apple Podcasts.
Score: 23/30 (Who 8 + Where 5 + What 10)
Why they rank here: Harry built Overdrive Interactive, worked with clients like Harley-Davidson, Goldman Sachs, Dell, and Akamai, and sold it. He's been in digital marketing since 1997. This episode has 8,870 YouTube views and runs 101 minutes.
What we talked about: Harry told me how he cold-called Microsoft at 20 and got the meeting. Then he laid out the customer journey blueprint that he says 85% of companies don't have, his five reasons framework, and why speed to lead decides your return on ad spend.
More: the full Harry Gold write-up.
7. Nathaniel Stevens: 23/30
Episode: He Built a $342M Company While Still in College (Dennis Yu long-form interview (YouTube), Aug 29, 2026, 58 min). You can watch on YouTube.
Score: 23/30 (Who 9 + Where 4 + What 10)
Why they rank here: Nathaniel built Yodle from his dorm at Wharton and sold it for $342 million. Web.com's own record confirms it paid more than $300 million. That makes him a 9 on Who. This long-form interview lives on my YouTube channel, not the Coach Yu Show feed, and has 2,963 views.
What we talked about: I've known Nathaniel since he was a junior at Penn. He walked me through the deal terms, the earn-out, and what it was like losing engineers to Amazon. After the sale he kept building in roofing, auto, and other local services. Later my team built his personal brand site for $53 in AI tokens.
More: how I built Nathaniel's site for $53.
8. Kevin Lee: 21/30
Episode: Kevin Lee's Framework for Dominating PPC, GEO, and the $100B Google Settlement (The Coach Yu Show, Jun 10, 2026 (YouTube Mar 23, 2026), 53 min). You can listen on Apple Podcasts.
Score: 21/30 (Who 8 + Where 3 + What 10)
Why they rank here: Kevin has worked in paid search and content strategy for 30 years and has seen every major change since 1994. The topic is a perfect 10 for my audience. The episode is new, with 307 YouTube views so far, so its Where score is low for now.
What we talked about: We filmed at the Wall Street Conference in Las Vegas. Kevin explained why generative engine optimization, or GEO, is the new SEO, and why agreement across many sources, not just content, gets you recommended by ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. Then he explained the $100 billion mass arbitration against Google and why even advertisers spending $20K a month should pay attention.
9. Liana Ling: 20/30
Episode: How Liana Ling Built a Marketing Reputation That Opens Every Door (The Coach Yu Show, Apr 20, 2026, 20 min). You can listen on Apple Podcasts.
Score: 20/30 (Who 6 + Where 5 + What 9)
Why they rank here: Liana is a Toronto marketer I call my digital marketing sister. This 20-minute conversation from DigiMarCon Canada has 5,278 YouTube views.
What we talked about: Minutes before we started filming, Liana put me on a Zoom call with the founder of a former client. That's what a reputation does: people introduce you without being asked. She built her network by setting up Google profiles for small businesses for free through her local business association, long before anyone knew her name.
More: Liana Ling's site.
10. Kirt Box: 20/30
Episode: Kirt Box Signed With Victory Archery by Building Real Relationships (The Coach Yu Show, Jun 10, 2026 (YouTube Mar 8, 2026), 43 min). You can listen on Apple Podcasts.
Score: 20/30 (Who 5 + Where 5 + What 10)
Why they rank here: Kirt is a bow hunter, military veteran, and Boeing supply chain manager in Midland, Texas. His channel, American Country Outdoors, has 8.66K YouTube subscribers. He ranks this high because his story is exactly the personal brand lesson I teach young adults.
What we talked about: Kirt has a Short with 5 million views and sponsors including Victory Archery and Moultrie Mobile. None of it came from chasing fame. He showed up in his community, built real relationships, and put his passion on YouTube. Then Victory Archery signed him.
More: Kirt Box's page.
Close behind
- Jack Jiao, "Inside Rowan Appliance's Brand-New Shenzhen Office" (Oct 2026): 20/30 (Who 7, Where 4, What 9)
- Joshua B. Lee, "Joshua B. Lee's System for 50 Million LinkedIn Views" (Feb 2026): 20/30 (Who 7, Where 4, What 9)
- Erik Huberman, "How Erik Huberman Built the Fastest-Growing Marketing Agency" (Jul 2026): 19/30 (Who 8, Where 2, What 9)
- Sam Winsbury, "I Let a 22-Year-Old Post on My LinkedIn as Me (with Sam Winsbury)" (Mar 2023): 18/30 (Who 5, Where 4, What 9)
What this list taught me
- Big names lift the whole show. Stelzner and Hyken bring credibility that helps every episode around them.
- Views follow promotion. David Carroll's episode has more than 340,000 views because we put Dollar a Day behind it. A great conversation still needs distribution.
- Stories beat credentials. Kirt Box and Liana Ling aren't famous, but they told stories young marketers can copy, so they score a 9 or 10 on What.
- New episodes start low on Where. Kevin Lee is a 10 on topic but only a 3 on reach so far. Give it time and promotion.
Every episode I've done, on my shows and others, is in my podcast directory. See also the podcasters I know.
Questions people ask
How did you score the guests?
With our 30-point authority score: up to 10 for who the guest is, 10 for how many people they reach, and 10 for what we talked about.
Why is a smaller guest ahead of a bigger name?
Because What counts as much as Who. A guest with a specific, useful story on my core topics can beat a famous guest on a side topic.
Will the ranking change?
Yes. New episodes keep getting views, and new guests keep coming on. I'll update the scores.
How do I get on the Coach Yu Show?
Have a real story with numbers that a young marketer or a local business owner can use. Most of my guests are people I've known for years.