Starting and running a podcast has never been this easy. All you need is a decent audio recording setup and you are set for the most part.
What started as a hobby can potentially earn you income. Yes, now it is possible to monetize your podcast.
But how do podcasts make money? How much does a podcast make? These questions normally come up when you start to monetize your podcast and will be covered in this blogpost as well.
There are many ways to make income out of your podcast, and most of them require you to have a decent amount of audience. So once you have built up a community of listeners, the ways of making revenue out of it are numerous.
Here are some of the ways how you can earn your next paycheck through podcasts. Dive in to learn more.
1. Consider Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a flexible method of generating revenue that you can incorporate into anything. Podcasts are no exception.
Affiliate or performance marketing is when you introduce your audience to a product or service. Every time they purchase through that link, you receive a small commission.
You can promote services and products on the side and make revenue when your audience makes a purchase. It is as easy as that.
There are affiliate programs for almost every product. All you have to do is sign up to the relevant platform and get your special tracking link.
2. Sign Up for a Podcast Subscription Platform
Generating revenue using podcasts requires you to take additional measures. If you choose to do affiliate marketing or sell merchandise, you need to advertise the product for better sales. This requires you to spend time and money.
But there are other means of making money out of your podcast without spending much of your resources. One such method is subscribing your podcast to a subscription platform. Many podcast subscription platforms offer users access to your podcasts, thereby enabling you to make more revenue out of them. And the best part is that you do not have to spend time advertising your podcast.
These subscription platforms help you gain subscribers and have built-in features like Q&A forums to help add value to subscriptions. Because of this, you do not have to gain technical expertise or spend big bucks to publish and advertise your podcast.
Some platforms allow you to deliver content in whichever platform they prefer. From one platform you can deliver content in Apple podcasts or Spotify.
Various free and paid podcasts subscription platforms allow you to monetize them. Select one which suits your needs and you have one way of generating revenue.
3. Build Unique Courses
As a podcaster, you are going to be talking about a topic in a specific niche. This exhibits your expertise in that particular niche.
When your listeners trust your expertise, they will be willing to buy a course from you on that topic. For example, you can be someone who has a podcast on finance topics. You can create a course on personal finances and sell it.
You can casually promote your course on your podcast and ask people to sign up for it. It also helps to have an email subscription list where you can subtly remind your audience to sign up for your courses.
4. Offer Relevant Services
You can always offer services that are relevant to the content you discuss in your podcast. Since you have already exhibited your expertise through podcasts, you will be able to promise top-notch services as well.
Let us consider the example of a finance podcast. You can offer content writing services in that niche or do freelance consulting on the subject.
Since your audience already knows that you are well-versed in that subject, it would be easier to land clients. Additionally, you can also actively promote your services on your podcast. This way, you can get more clients than when you are actively searching and applying for such roles.
5. Produce Related Merchandise
Once you have an audience, you can create physical products and sell those products to them. Physical products or merchandise such as tees, mugs, pillows, or books can be created and sold to your audience.
Books additionally strengthen your expertise in the niche and establish you as a thought leader. This in turn helps you increase the popularity of your podcast and other services that you offer. Check out Mato & Hash for ideas on what swag to offer your audience.
You can cross-advertise and drive attention to your merchandise by using your podcast and getting other guests to talk about it. Getting good reviews on your products and having an active Patreon page go a long way in boosting sales.
6. Public Speaking
Many podcasters and other social media influencers receive offers to talk on public platforms all the time. You might receive offers to talk about your niche or sometimes about your life experiences.
This is a great way of widening your audience and increasing your exposure. You get to establish your authority in the industry. And the best part is you generate revenue out of it.
Some events might just offer boarding and accommodation for the event. But some events even pay their speakers 6 figures. The amount you get paid depends upon your popularity, expertise, and the scale of the event. But this is a great way of creating a source of income.
7. Sell Premium Content
You can also create exclusive content for your paid audience. These contents can be anything and everything under the sun.
Some of the premium content types that you can offer to your audience are:
- Behind-the-scenes content
- Exclusive Q&A session with the host
- Additional interviews
- Ad-free RSS feeds
- Early access to RSS feeds
- Special discounts on merch
- Tickets to events
- Video version of the podcasts
- Specially curated content for their specific needs, and so on.
You can use your podcast to advertise the premium content you offer. Let your audience know the perks of having access to your premium content. In this way, you can make sure to earn some extra bucks down the road.
8. Receive Crowdfunding and Donations
Another way of monetizing your podcast is by asking your audience to pitch in some money. You can explain to them how this will be a great help in sustaining you and your podcast.
Many platforms aid you in receiving crowdfunding. These platforms also help you in providing additional content to the audience who pay you money. These platforms also offer you options to have a separate paid-only RSS feed.
Final Thoughts
The days when podcasts were just a hobby are long gone. Nowadays, podcasting offers you a variety of avenues for making money.
In this article, we have mentioned some of the ways you can make some extra bucks. You can use a mix and match of these methods and build different streams of revenue just through your podcast.
Some of these points are beginner-friendly while the rest are more useful for popular hosts. Therefore take your time and select ones that best meet your preference. But most importantly, having fun making money.
Happy podcasting!
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