How To Make Money From Podcasting: 11 Ways To Monetize A Podcast
Thinking of Hiring a Podcast Production Agency?
Are you contemplating creating a podcast and curious about how podcasters earn money?
Or, do you already have a podcast and want to enhance your income?
The good news is that there are several methods to monetize a podcast…
Some work great when you are just starting out, while others work better when you have a bigger following and are more established.
Regardless of your stage, you will discover at least one technique to generate money via podcasting.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing, or performance marketing, involves receiving a commission for referring customers to other businesses. Typically, you will earn money when a customer makes a purchase.
Affiliate marketing is most effective when you advertise items or services that you really use or are acquainted with, so that you can promote them with authenticity.
If you lack the audience size required for conventional sponsorships, you might design your own “ad” to promote an affiliate deal. Alternatively, you may naturally include a product or service reference in your usual material.
Affiliate programs exist for practically all major products and services. Amazon is one of the most prominent affiliate programs, but you may also join a network such as ShareASale, where you can search for and apply to particular affiliate programs.
Utilizing a plugin such as Lasso is strongly suggested. This enables you to construct short links that lead to your tracking link (among a bunch of other useful features). This makes it simple to speak a brief URL on your podcast.
Additionally, it is beneficial to develop a WordPress site so that people can simply learn more and locate the many firms you mention.
Sponsors & Advertising
Advertising and sponsorships are often the first methods that come to mind when considering how to generate money from podcasting.
There are several podcast advertising networks that may link you to advertisers. They are responsible for recruiting, advertising, negotiating fees, obtaining the script, and other tasks. Typically, you need at least 5,000 or 10,000 monthly listeners to work with them.
Midroll is one of the major ad networks, Authentic is another prominent network, and many podcast hosting businesses have their own networks.
If you have a smaller or more specialized audience, you may also reach out directly to firms that might be a fantastic match for your audience.
Courses
Numerous prominent podcasters have built their own online courses to teach comparable material to what they discuss on their podcasts.
Online courses are a terrific way to teach something in a straightforward manner that leads to a measurable outcome for the student.
It is advantageous to establish an email list so that you may inform your audience about your course through podcasts and email.
Use a webinar platform to demonstrate the value of your product or service for around 45 minutes, and then offer a course at the conclusion.
These are effective because participants are engaged and communicate with you live.
Services
You may provide services related to the podcast’s subject matter.
I used to examine and evaluate internet advertisements on a podcast and provided Google AdWords and Facebook Ads management as a service.
People knew they would get expert-level ad management since I demonstrated that I was an authority in the field. This made it much simpler to get business without having to “sell” my skills.
Similar work might be done in many other sectors.
Coaching & Consulting
Coaching and consulting are comparable to providing a service, but you often do not provide the service for the client. Instead, you assist or direct them toward improvement.
Fitness, nutrition, business, and education are common areas with many consultants and trainers, but I’m sure there are consultants in every field.
Crowdfunding & Donations
You may solicit contributions to help fund your podcast and yourself. This method would be ideal for monetizing more podcasts with an emphasis on entertainment.
Patreon is a typical site for taking contributions. They make it very simple to give more material or perks based on the amount of money individuals contribute.
They also allow you to create a second paid-only RSS feed, which fits in neatly with the next technique.
Premium Content
Premium material may be anything, but some of the most popular ways podcasters provide premium content are:
- Additional interviews
- Behind-the-scenes content
- Ad-free RSS feed
- Early-access RSS feed
- Q&A with the hosts
Have fun coming up with different ways to give your community more value for a few dollars a month.
The Daily Wire is a news and podcast site. If you pay for an annual subscription, you can get the video version of the podcast, live episodes, a tumbler, and other perks. No matter what you think of the content they offer, this is a great example of premium content.
Events
Hosting events is a great way to not only make money, but also bring your best fans together and give them more value.
Pat Flynn gave me the Walker Stalker conference as an example. It started with a podcast about the TV show The Walking Dead.
They have events all over the world, and even actors take part. That sounds really great!
Sam Harris gives another example that combines Patreon and live events. If you become a Patron, you can get tickets to his live events before the general public.
Physical Products
Things like T-shirts, mugs, and other swag are examples of physical products.
The Generation Why Podcast has a ton of different products, as well as paid content and a very active Patreon page.
You can use a site like Teespring to make sure you sell enough of your products before they are printed. This way, you don’t end up with a bunch of products you don’t want or need.
Books
Another great way to make money and build your reputation is to turn a popular podcast into book sales.
You can use the people who listen to your podcast to get those first sales and reviews, which will also make your book stand out.
I know of and have bought the following two examples:
- Pat Flynn wrote the WSJ bestseller Will It Fly?
- Chris Ducker recently came out with Rise of the Youpreneur
You can also help get the word out about your book when it comes out by being a guest on other podcasts.
Public Speaking
Many podcasters are asked to speak at events in their field. If someone likes what they hear on your podcast, it makes sense that you would be a good choice to speak at conferences and other live events (and get paid to do it).
Fees for speaking can be as low as a few hundred dollars or as high as six figures or more.
Speaking is another great way to build your authority and meet new people who might be interested in listening to your podcast in the future.
Combine Methods
As you can see, there are many different ways to make money with podcasts. Combining a few different methods is a common way to make money, and you can always change and tweak the ways you make money over time.
There is no “right” way to turn your podcast into a business. There is only one “right” way for you.
Did I forget any of the ways you make money? Or do you have a favorite? Tell me in the comments below!
How Much Money Do Podcasts Make?
Can you get paid for a podcast? Yes, of course!
Big names get a lot of listeners and make a lot of money from advertising as a result.
AdvertiseCast says that the average CPM (cost per 1,000 listeners) for a 30-second spot is $18, while the CPM for a 60-second spot is $25.
About 420 million people downloaded The Ringer in 2018, and it made $15 million from ads (paywall). Amy Schumer made $1 million for making a show for Spotify.
But what about “smaller” names? How do they manage to do it?
Here are a couple of examples:
- The Bowery Boys is a podcast about the history of New York City and makes over $3,800/month through Patreon.
- The Last Podcast On The Left makes over $57,000/month just through Patreon. They also sell shirts and do regular live shows in different cities.
If you type “podcast” into the search box on Patreon, you can find more examples. However, not everyone shares how much money they make, but you can get an idea by looking at how many patrons they have.
This is an interesting and helpful look at how the most popular podcasts on Patreon make money. What is clear is that consistency and longevity play a big role in how much money people make with podcasts.
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