Collect those coins Pros!
When you think about podcasts, do you assume that only the people in the upper echelon of the podcasting game are the ones making money from their podcasts?
Do you assume that most podcasters create their content solely because they like the sound of their voice?
Do you assume there is no money to be made with podcasts?
Well, I’m here to tell you, your assumptions couldn’t be further from the truth.
Depending on which platform you use to distribute your podcast, you can make money from the very first episode. When I launched my own podcast, I launched it through Anchor.FM because it was free, simple to use, allowed me to distribute it to all the main podcasting/ streaming sites, AND best of all, I could make money from my very first episode!
Podcasts, unlike radio, allow the creator to be in complete control of where their dollars come from and with whom they can partner with. Having been in the podcasting game a few years now, I learned that there are so many more ways to monetize your podcast than just the sponsored segments that platforms like Anchor offers.
Below, I share five legit ways to monetize your podcast:
1. Paid advertising
(pre-roll/ mid-roll) advertising
In podcast advertising, you have the option to place your ads through-out your episode. Depending on where in the episode you place it, you can charge top dollar to brands looking to advertise. Brands are willing to pay for your listeners’ attention and action.
Pre-roll ads are ads that are placed before the podcast episode actually happens.
If you listen to some of your favorite podcasts, you may notice that the first 1-3 minutes of the episode is usually filled with one ad or another. This placement is important to brands because it is primetime advertising real estate.
If you are a brand and want to maintain top of mind awareness, you want listeners to think about you first and before anything else. Just like networks charge millions of dollars for brands to advertise during prime time spots, you too can charge well for this prime time placement. Pre-roll ads can range in pricing depending on the podcast’s popularity, age, and subject matter.
Mid-roll advertisements are typically placed in the middle or within your podcast episode. It’s typically not as highly priced as the pre-roll because listeners have to spend time with your episode in order to hear the advertisement at the risk to the brand, however, it’s still a great way to monetize because you as the creator have the power to help brands create a more organic advertising experience.
2. Brand Partnerships
paid collaborations, sponsored content
As a content creator and influencer, your story and how you deliver it to your audience is how you get them to engage with the things that you love and suggest. As a podcaster, there are opportunities for you to partner with a brand on either your podcasting platform, the brand’s podcasting platform, or on a platform you and the brand create.
Sponsored content is when a brand pays a fee to sponsor a topic, segment, or episode. For example, as a meditation podcaster, a brand that sells water could sponsor a 2 minute guided meditation segment.
Paid collaborations is when a brand pays you to collaborate with them on a podcast. This podcast could be a separate mini series podcast, a completely new podcast with topics and themes centered around the brand’s mission, or it could mean you are paid as a host on their podcasting platform.
No matter if you secure the sponsorship or partnership dollars, brands are waiting to pay YOU for your voice and story.
3. Call to Action/ PSA
How can we sit here and discuss the money you could be making from other people and not mention how you can boost your own business?
A Call to Action or CTA is a direct message to the receive to do something.
You use your podcasting platform to amplify your story or the stories of the guests you interview sharing them to hundreds, thousands, and millions of ears across the globe. This same platform that you’ve created is also a marketing machine.
Just like you would record ad spots for brands to create native audio ads, create your own 30-45 second ad marketing your product, service, and offers. Leave listeners with a call to action to support you and your business.
Although most PSAs (public service announcements) are typically donated opportunities for charities and non-profits to get their message out to the masses, you can use this opportunity to offer ad space to the causes and organizations that you support and stand behind.
4. Affiliate links
As a lifestyle content creator, do you often share some of your must have and favorite books, products, and goods?
Use the show notes to include links to those same products and collect the commission as if you had blogged it yourself. After all, isn’t a podcast a blog of sorts?
Whether you use Amazon Influencer, Amazon Associates, RewardStyle or the like, place those affiliate links within your show notes as well as your promotional materials to collect those coins!
5. Asked donations
One thing I like with Anchor.FM is that it offers a place for your listeners to donate directly to you. Even if you don’t use Anchor.FM to host your podcast, use your website or a direct link placed in show notes to allow listeners to support the show and leave a donation.
I live by the saying, “ask and you shall receive.” If you don’t ask your listeners to support and donate to you how will you receive it from them?
Ask for those donations!
When you started your podcasting journey, I’m sure you were looking for a way to share your story, meet some interesting people and be the radio host your always dreamed you could be. You don’t have to let podcasting be just a hobby. There are many ways to monetize your podcast, similar in the way you would monetize your blog. With a bit of strategy, creativity, and open mindedness, you can attract the right demographic and dollars to both your podcast and your business.
Have you started monetizing your podcast? What were your wins? What did you learn?
Leave me a comment below!
