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Podcasting should be used as a channel to express one’s passion and share information, right? Well, there’s no denying that most people start doing podcasts simply because they’re interested in a particular subject. But if you are such a individual and already have a healthy following, there will come a time when it will no longer make sense to keep podcasting for free. Here’s how to monetize a podcast!
Should You Use Your Podcast to Make Money?
Like is the case with most hobbies, monetizing your podcast isn’t only about just making money. Instead, it all comes down to the question of what you could do with some income. And there are some good reasons why you should probably consider taking this route:
- To cover the costs of podcasting
- Make improvements: From equipment purchases to educating yourself, there are so many ways through which you could improve your show. However, all these investments will require money, which means you have no option but to seek financial support.
- Sustainability: Obviously, it will be much easier for you to focus on content creation when you know you have all expenses covered. If this is proving difficult, why not consider monetizing to make things easier for yourself?
- Returns from your audience: Most people like to show their appreciation whenever they get something for free, and your listeners aren’t any different.
These are just but a few of the reasons why you might consider using your podcast to make money. Having made up your mind, what remains is to familiarize yourself with some good ways to make money from podcasting.
How Can You Make Money?
Sponsorships
This is by far the easiest way to monetize your podcast, since all you have to do is promote it, earn impressions and make money. With podcasting becoming more mainstream in recent years, even the biggest of brands now use the medium to showcase themselves. Still, you need to demonstrate value to advertisers before you can convince them to pay you to mention their products/services.
In most cases, marketers will usually get in touch if your show has a large enough audience base. However, numbers alone will not help you achieve success with this tactic; what really matters here is how engaged your audience is. The likelihood of your listeners to take action on the sponsors is also crucial.
Before approaching potential sponsors, take a close, hard look at your audience. Are there any products/services that seem to be a good fit for your listeners? It’s also worth mentioning that improving your content, branding and production will be crucial in landing a lucrative sponsorship, so remember to work on these elements as well.
Sell Your Own Stuff
If you have a successful brand, why not consider selling products/services of your own to your listeners? Although you’ll have to invest a significant amount of time and resources to come up with a commodity, you’ll be glad you did so in the long term. Unlike sponsorships where you only get a small percentage of the earnings you generate, selling your own stuff means you get to keep 100{af40a4e4318449abc3539eff46696b463f2375fb32906e8bb5b94fc3323aa3d8}} of the profits. This, combined with the fact that you get the benefit of free traffic, makes product creation one of the most lucrative ways to make money from podcasts.
As for what products to create and sell, you’re spoilt for choice here. Still, it would be advisable to adopt a conservative strategy here to avoid diluting the integrity of your show. This means you want to start with a small product that will showcase value to your listeners without compelling them to take a leap of faith. You can always work your way up to more expensive stuff later on, depending on the momentum generated by your initial offering(s).
Holding Live Interviews
Although not many podcasters use this technique, live interviews can be a great way to keep an audience entertained. In fact, the online nature of the larger podcasting community means most fans are forever itching to gather and network. A live interview could thus work excellently in enhancing your appeal within this community, creating endless income-generating opportunities as a result.
So don’t be afraid to tap into your existing network or even approach potential guests on social media. Obviously, you will want to ensure that these individuals have something meaningful to bring to the table before hosting them on your show. When looking for prospects, try not to focus solely on their status, but rather seek like-minded people who will add value to your podcast.
Offering Premium Content
This is a great way to turn your fans into paying customers. One of the best ways to do this is to offer a fraction of each episode for free, then require a paid subscription for anyone who wants to access the remaining segment. Alternatively, you could also start hosting exclusive episodes, create a subscription service or offer special content for a fee. Whatever you do, focus on providing more value to your paying listeners without alienating the rest of your audience.
Affiliate Marketing
Contrary to what most people assume, affiliate marketing is actually quite different from seeking sponsorships. With the former, opportunities are quite easy to find, something that can’t be said of landing sponsorships. When you join an affiliate program, the company will give you a special code to promote to your audience. Whenever someone makes a purchase using that specific code, you’ll earn a commission as a percentage of the price. With this method, it’s up to you to be transparent with your audience, however, don’t forget that you will be attaching your reputation to the products you endorse.
All in all, not every podcaster out there does their show simply because they feel passionate about certain topics; some also do it for money. So if you’ve put a great deal of effort into developing your podcast and feel it’s time you started getting paid for it, you have every right to go ahead and monetize.There are so many ways to make money from podcasting, which means it’s all up to you to pick one that best suits your show.
Want Proof? Here It Is!
There are a bunch of different article out there that break down some of the top earning podcasts being put out right now. Here are some links to these: