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Meet Melanie Scroggins: podcast producer and likewise our former podcast editor from means again when! Today she’s sharing just a few recommendations on how one can earn cash together with your podcast. Thanks Melanie! ????
It isn’t a secret that there’s a ton of cash available in podcasting. It doesn’t matter how huge or small a podcast’s viewers is, podcasters in any area of interest could make some respectable cash.
Making cash with a podcast can occur in several methods, however we’ll give attention to the highest 3 ways podcasters earn cash with their exhibits in addition to the knowledge wanted to be essentially the most profitable in your efforts with every one.
The 3 most important forms of monetization are:
- Self-Promotion
- Affiliate Marketing
- Sponsorships + Advertising
And whereas these might sound slightly fancy or intimidating, they’re completely not, so let’s dive in.
1. Self-Promotion: Selling your individual services and products.
This one looks like a no brainer, however self-promotion is underutilized by many podcasters. This methodology is simple and easily signifies that somebody (i.e. you) shares about your individual services and products throughout a podcast episode. This normally appears to be like like operating advertisements for explicit merchandise, companies, or freebies earlier than, throughout, or after the primary content material of your present. Oftentimes podcasters will file a brief 15, 30, or 60-second audio section explaining and advertising and marketing their services or products that they then enter into every episode.
Here’s the way it works:
- You create and ship invaluable content material your viewers needs or wants.
- You promote or promote to your viewers by way of e-mail, publication, web site, and so forth.
- You proceed to ship worth by fixing issues your viewers has.
- Members of your viewers select to work with you/purchase from you.
Some necessary issues to notice right here:
Know the issue(s) you resolve in your viewers.
When self-promoting, your precedence is to know why listeners tune in every week. If there may be uncertainty on what issues you resolve in your viewers, there’s no means they’re going to really feel motivated to really work with or purchase from you.
Be clear about what you provide and why that’s worthwhile to your viewers. When content material proves so as to add worth to their lives, they’ll belief you extra readily and usually tend to take motion with you.
Make positive listeners can simply discover your present.
Be positive that those that are in search of your present can discover it. It is likely to be an important, high-quality podcast but when individuals can’t discover it, it doesn’t matter. With this, remember to submit your podcast to all the foremost directories (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify) and have a web-based presence like an internet site you may simply ship individuals to.
Provide Calls to Action (CTA) that encourage and encourage your viewers.
Make positive any calls to motion are compelling and get your viewers fired up about what you’re providing.
Do you may have an superior opt-in? Great! Be positive to speak about it and hyperlink to it in your episode present notes.
What about a web-based course? Fantastic! Talk it up sooner or later throughout the present and ensure the viewers can simply discover extra details about it.
PS This does imply that you simply want paid product(s) to share in your podcast! If you don’t have any merchandise created but, the subsequent two choices would possibly work finest for you.
2. Affiliate Marketing: Selling different individuals’s services or products.
Affiliate advertising and marketing is promoting or speaking about another person’s services or products in your podcast and getting paid per click on or buy. Oftentimes, this comes within the type of an advert throughout a podcast episode, similar to self-promotion.
What’s nice about affiliate internet marketing is that there are many choices for each viewers whether or not or not it’s merchandise/companies associated to magnificence, tech, podcasting tools, apps, teaching packages, family items, you title it.
But there’s one huge caveat: services or products must be helpful or attention-grabbing to your viewers. It’s simple to tank a present by advertising and marketing a services or products that isn’t useful to the listeners and feels tremendous spammy.
Here’s the way it works:
- You construct up belief together with your viewers.
- You determine merchandise that suit your viewers’s way of life and desires.
- You create campaigns that refer listeners to the merchandise.
- You receives a commission for clicks or purchases made.
Some necessary issues to notice right here:
Other individuals’s merchandise can create a diversion out of your podcast’s core message.
When signing up as an affiliate, you promise to share the stage with one other particular person. This signifies that your podcast’s message, together with your services or products, will share the highlight with another person’s.
There’s nothing flawed with this in any respect, affiliate internet marketing is standard with podcasters and bloggers alike, however timing is actually necessary right here. For a brand new podcaster with a brand new present, this will not play out nicely as a result of the viewers doesn’t actually know you but and desires extra time to know, like, and belief you. So hold that in thoughts.
Are present affiliate services and products making a living?
If one explicit product has been promoted for a month and the viewers isn’t biting (or shopping for), it could be time to step again and re-evaluate that individual product. This is an efficient follow for any services or products you select to advertise—even your individual.
3. Sponsorships + Advertising: A third social gathering pays for air time in your podcast.
Ever listened to a present that took a fast break to run an advert? That is an instance of this methodology at work. It’s completely different from self-promotion and affiliate internet marketing as a result of another person, whether or not or not it’s a person or an organization, pays you straight for air time in your podcast.
This sort of monetization methodology normally occurs when you may have a big viewers and/or actually excessive distinctive obtain numbers (in contrast to the above methods to earn cash which you’ll be able to make the most of a lot sooner!). An individual or firm pays for a 15, 30, or 60-second spot on a podcast. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, entrepreneurs spent $479 million on podcast advertisements in 2018! And these numbers are solely growing year-to-year.
This methodology works in case your numbers are ‘good’ as a result of greater than half of podcast audiences take heed to a full episode of a given present on common —and 41% of listeners will play by means of most of an episode, which is fairly astounding if you consider what number of podcasts are on the market at the moment (to not point out all the opposite media distractions at our fingertips).
Here’s the way it works:
- Whether or not you’re reaching out to somebody to sponsor your present, you’ll want your minimal obtain numbers.
- Identify sponsors and advertisers who make sense in your viewers.
- You and the sponsor will negotiate a contract primarily based on the numbers your podcast is producing in addition to what you’d wish to make per spot.
- You receives a commission on a semi-regular foundation per episode.
What may you receives a commission?
Here are the present business requirements/charges primarily based on downloads:
Note: A minimal of 5000 downloads/episode is required to be eligible for sponsorships.
- $18 per 1,000 downloads for 15-second pre-roll advert
- $25 per 1,000 downloads for a 60-second mid-roll advert
- $15 per 1,000 downloads for 30-second post-roll advert
Some necessary issues to notice right here:
Do your present podcast numbers make sense for this methodology?
Any potential sponsor might need to know just a few numbers about your present earlier than they sponsor it:
- CPA – Cost per Acquisition
- CPM – Cost per Mille
- Minimum variety of downloads per episode
*Read extra in-depth about these numbers and the way they work right here.
Is your viewers prepared?
Be positive your viewers is prepared so that you can run advertisements and remember to point out the explanation for selling these services and products to them. If not within the episode, make sure that is talked about in your podcast’s web site or within the present notes.
Let’s get nerdy with some stats!
- John Lee Dumas made 61% of $1,520,437 (nearly $1M!) gross revenue in 2020 from sponsorships (one other 14% comes from affiliate internet marketing and the remaining quantity comes from him promoting his personal merchandise – on-line programs and bodily journals).
His charges again in 2019:
- 3-Month Pack: 12 Episodes @ $2,850 = $34,200
- 6-Month Pack: 24 Episodes @ 2,700 every = $64,800
- 9-Month Pack: 36 Episodes @ $2,400 every = $86,400
- Jenna Kutcher prices $5,250/episode sponsorship and experiences having 100,000 downloads per episode inside 30 days.
BONUS – Relational Net Worth: Utilizing and leveraging relationships in your podcast or enterprise.
While this isn’t essentially a DIRECT method to earn cash out of your podcast, specializing in rising relationships by means of a podcast offers an enormous asset to any enterprise. There’s quite a bit to be gained by assembly individuals as friends, hosts, or suggestions within the business.
A podcast additionally offers a good way to meet up with your entrepreneurial circle and discover methods to collaborate by selling mates, friends and/or college students.
To Wrap Up
Thinking about making a living out of your podcast is a superb subsequent step after getting your present up and operating. It is not at all a “must” for any podcaster, however in the event you’re there may be loads of cash to be made within the podcasting house.
The alternatives for connecting and nurturing mutually helpful relationships by means of podcasting are limitless! Starting with self-promotion and naturally shifting into affiliate internet marketing and sponsorships/promoting is a superb place to start.
To be taught extra about what podcasting can do for your small business, go to podcastproductionschool.com.
Melanie Scroggins is a Voice Actor & Content Creator on the WFH Voice Actor in addition to one of many Co-Creators of Podcast Production School. Melanie’s audio manufacturing journey started in her RV on the coast of Oregon and finally was a full time distant podcast manufacturing enterprise the place she has had the chance to serve enterprise house owners and their exhibits throughout the U.S.
On the house entrance, Melanie is a spouse and a cat mother of two. She loves the outside, listening to podcasts, and counting down the times till Christmas (doesn’t everybody?!).