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How to Make Money with Your Podcast

It's wonderful to have a financial aim for your program, but even the greatest monetization approaches will fail if you don't first create a strong desire for your material.

2 years ago   •   8 min read

Intention, consistency, and endurance are all required for a successful podcasting monetization strategy.

It's wonderful to have a financial aim for your program, but even the greatest monetization approaches will fail if you don't first create a strong desire for your material.

Before we look at ways to monetize your podcast, let's take a look at what you can do to get people interested in it.

Before you begin, make a checklist of everything you need to do.

The most common reason why podcasters don't earn money is because they do not have a clear strategy or a thorough knowledge of what it takes to produce a show that will generate revenue.

Make sure you're doing the basics to start a podcast that will continue to develop, create interest, and turn a profit in the future!

1. Get listed on all the major directories

Your podcast will be more discoverable if it's listed in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and other directories right now! Make it as simple as possible for listeners to locate your show and become a subscriber.

2. Create a Podcast if you're looking for a focused, specialized audience.

The best 100 listeners are more lucrative than the wrong 1000. The secret to success is to focus on creating a show that is distinct and unique in your field. You're aiming for a show that a small number of people adore.

3. Use social media to interact with and engage your audience.

Make use of popular social media platforms to post frequently and interact with your audience in the comments. You want to find out more about your target audience and what type of material they'd like to hear more of. Then, based on their suggestions, make adjustments to your podcast.

4. Make notes for each episode's broadcast.

Start drafting show notes for each episode if you haven't already. Show notes are a simple method to link to your product, Patreon site, and other sources.

5. Make a podcast website.

You need a website as a home base for your podcast and a location to sell your items and services if you want to use any of these monetization methods.

Buzzsprout lets you build a unique podcast website, or you may purchase a full site (such as Wordpress or Squarespace) after you've established your blog, sold goods, or launched online courses!

6. Give out a freebie as a gift.

Give your audience a short guide, another podcast episode, or extra material without asking for money. Freebies of high-quality help grow your email list, create trust, and entice people to sign up for your premium content!

If you try to turn your show into a money-making machine too soon, you'll almost certainly be disappointed.

In the early phases of your podcast, it's preferable to focus on establishing trust with your listeners by giving them useful, ad-free material.

Make money from your podcast by selling additional material

Offering paid bonus material and services to your audience is a fantastic way to supplement your earnings when you have a small but devoted following.

Find out what your audience is looking for and how you can help them by conducting an internet search or reading a survey. Consider whether there's a recurring problem that your readers are seeking to solve or a question that they frequently ask before choosing one of these approaches.Paying attention to your listeners' comments is an excellent approach to figure out what type of information would be most beneficial to them. Here are some potential ideas for you:

1. Create an e-book or a more comprehensive teaching material.

Creating a helpful article that solves a problem for your listeners is an excellent strategy to monetize your podcast while it grows.

The greatest thing is that informing your audience about your book does not seem sales-oriented — it appears relevant and helpful.

You may write your book (or guide) from the ground up, or you may use a transcription service to transcribe several podcast episodes that are closely related.

You may then create a coherent format, add some new material, and hire a designer from Fiverr or 99Designs to produce cover art.

On your website or on Amazon, you may sell the completed product in .pdf format and include a link to the purchase in your episode notes!

2. Consult, advise, or coach

You may find a way to help your audience and get compensated in return if you have a podcast about gaming or psychology.

They'll go to you for answers if you take the time to build rapport with your audience and establish yourself as an expert in your area. After you've established your podcast community, you may provide one-on-one counseling, coaching, or advice and direct them to your website to book a session.

3. Host a paid webinar and make money.

Webinars are an ideal method to profit from group coaching sessions, live Q&As, and unique courses when your audience is all over the world.You may use a variety of webinar platforms, like as Eventbrite or ClickMeeting, to organize your listeners for a compensated, live event!

4. Create an online class.

It's not only possible; it's also common. There are 4 simple ways to generate money with your podcast without selling anything:

Get to know your audience by conducting market research, Q&As, and social media posts.

Once you've figured out how to best help your listeners resolve an issue, design your course material in a simple, entertaining, and outcome-oriented way.

You might develop your online course using services like Podia, Udemy, or Skillshare. We use Teachable to create our free podcasting class.

5. Set up an online store to sell items such as DVDs, books and printables.

Create your own items like stickers, mugs, and t-shirts and sell them on your website, Podchaser Merch Store, or include links to both places in your episode notes.

6. Affiliate marketing is a great way to get into affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing is simpler to set up than searching for sponsors for most podcasters. In exchange for a cut of each sale, you agree to read a brief advertisement on your show promoting a product in conjunction with an affiliate.

However, most affiliate partners do not pay beginners in hard cash, instead of providing them store credit toward their items. We recommend avoiding advertising until you're confident that your ads will be relevant and beneficial to your listeners.

We created the Buzzsprout Affiliate Marketplace to connect all Buzzsprout podcasters with high-quality affiliate partners who pay your commission in cash — no matter how big or small your show is!

The Affiliate Marketplace is accessible via your Buzzsprout dashboard and consists of businesses that we vetted to assure compliance with our affiliate standards.

All podcasters are guaranteed acceptance on the platform and there's no "middle-man" fee taken out of your earnings.

To get started, go to the marketplace. Use your audience's needs and interest as a guide to help you narrow down which products are most relevant for them. Fill out the affiliate forms for each one.

You should receive an email with your affiliate link within 48-72 hours!

Amazon Affiliate Program (Amazon Associates)

Amazon is the most popular website in the world, making it a fantastic affiliate partner. As an Amazon Associate, you earn a commission not only on the product you're advertising but also on any other product your listener happens to buy once they click on your link.

Amazon pays you a higher commission rate than other affiliates and refunds 10-100% of the purchase price when a customer makes an online purchase using your link.

After you've joined up as an affiliate, you can choose which items are most relevant to your target demographic and utilize affiliate links to include on your website and in your show notes.

Sponsorship from podcasting is a great way to increase exposure for your business.

Sponsorships are a type of commercial agreement in which businesses pay you a certain sum to mention their product. As you might have guessed, being approached by a sponsor usually implies that you have some status in the podcasting industry.

If you aren't large enough to attract sponsors on your own, conduct your own study and contact pertinent sponsors to explain why they should pay you to promote their goods. Sponsorships for podcasts take one of two forms: a per-episode or a per-month payment.

CPM model

The podcast host reads an ad for a product in the CPM model, and the firm pays them a fixed fee per 1,000 listens that episode receives.

Podcasts that receive tens of thousands of downloads each episode and are sponsored by advertisements, such as Apple Podcasts or Google Play, tend to perform best on the CPM model. The amount you get paid is determined by the types of advertisements you choose to display on your program.

  • Pre-roll advertisements (CPM rate: $18): Pre-roll ads play before a podcast episode and last 15 seconds. Because of the positioning and timing, pre-roll advertising may be less intrusive. The standard CPM rate for pre-roll advertisements is $18.
  • $15 for 30 seconds (CPM rate: $25): Mid-roll ads are 60 seconds long and appear in the middle of your program. You may either read a script that promotes the product or relate a personal narrative about your encounter with it.
  • The most lucrative CPC rates are for mid-roll advertisements, yet they also interrupt your content, so pick advertisers that are genuinely beneficial to your target audience.
  • Post-roll advertisements are the least lucrative, with a cost of $10 per 1,000 impressions. Post-roll ads play at the conclusion of each episode and last 20-30 seconds before disappearing.

To get a sense of the numbers, use AdvertiseCast's Podcast Advertising Calculator to see how much money you may make each year based on your download count.

CPA model

In the CPA model, you are either paid a commission or a fixed fee for each listener who purchases the product. The CPA approach is comparable to affiliate agreements and might be an easier method for novice podcasters to supplement their incomes.

8. Create a podcast fundraising page

If you're like the majority of podcasters out there, you've likely heard that setting up a Patreon is the best way to make money as a podcast host. We think it's better to wait until your show has had some time to grow before establishing one. When it comes to crowdfunding methods, the most effective ones are those that have already built

When you're getting a steady stream of listeners asking for more episodes (and you have the time to produce them!), that's the moment to begin a Patreon campaign.

Sign up for Patreon & offer premium content

A service that enables podcasters to provide special material behind a paywall is Patreon. Patrons usually pay $5 per month for extra episodes and other exclusive content on the platform.

It may appear to be a wonderful idea for every podcaster, regardless of show size, to start a campaign on Patreon — if people contribute, fantastic! What's the harm? Unfortunately, it isn't that easy.

Why should they give to your program if they enjoy it? Having Patrons implies that you will produce extra content as an incentive for people to pledge. Patrons want to know that they are receiving something extra and unique. You'll not only lose monetary support if you fail to keep your word, but listeners will also abandon you.

How much money is required to make a Patreon page worth your time?

Only 2% of your audience will become Patrons, so there's no advantage in advertising your Patreon page before you've gathered a substantial following!

Before getting started, do some quick math. Patreon is a fantastic crowdfunding platform so long as there is a demand for material and a willingness to consistently supply it!

9. Make special appeals for one-time donations.

If you aren't prepared to start a Patreon, you may ask your podcast listeners for a one-time donation to cover expenses and keep the show going. A lot of podcasters decide to make this announcement at the beginning or end of each episode. You can incentivize donations and send thank you presents to people who contribute more than a threshold by adding

Conclusion

Starting a podcast to make money is not advised, but if you have the time, passion, and approach correct, you can certainly generate additional revenue over time! Simply ensure that you're enthusiastic about your show's subject enough to produce high-quality content — even if it never brings in money.

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