One question in the mind of a lot of people especially potential and upcoming podcasters is if people can actually make money from podcasts and if there is a means to make money how do you actually monetize your podcast show? Well, the truth is that only a few podcasters actually earn money from their show as it can be a little bit difficult especially if you are just starting out but it’s also true that it’s not impossible.
A lot of podcasters spend a lot of money trying to buy gadgets and equipment for their podcast so they end up spending more than they are earning, But if you work to make unique content, publish new episodes consistently, and engage your audience, you’ll eventually build a show that rakes in money for each episode. There are lots of people who make a supremely comfortable living working just working on their podcasts for a few hours each day. In this article, we’ll explain various ways you can start monetizing your podcast channel.
How To Monetize Your Podcast
There are actually a lot of ways to monetize a podcast. The most successful podcasts use several monetization strategies so there’s money coming in from a lot of different places, the most common ways to make money from your podcast include:
1. Subscription (subscriber-based)
When running a podcast show you can make money from a subscription-based model. This is the easiest and most common model used by podcasters. With a subscription model, you’ll typically let your audience pay a recurring fee to access new episodes.
The subscription model is the easiest route to monetizing your podcast because you don’t have to think about selling advertising. With a subscription model, your goal is to educate your audience so they want more of you, more of your podcast, and more of your content. Your audience will pay your subscription fee in exchange for access to your content.
2. Sponsorships
Podcasters typically make money through sponsorships. Here, sponsors help the podcast by becoming official sponsors for the shows they sponsor. You might hear your favorite podcasts mention their sponsors several times in every episode.
How much you earn from a sponsor depends on the number of downloads your episode generates. Sponsors pay on a cost-per-thousand-download basis (CPM), whose value changes all the time. For a really basic episode that only chartists might hear about, that’s around $18 in CPM. A popular podcast can start earning a high six-figure. Mid-roll ads are far more effective because the audience is captive at the time. At times, sponsors may dictate what the host will read or dictate more flexibility.
3. Advertising
Advertising through your podcast is a great way to earn money. When you advertise, you’re selling space on your podcast to someone else. The most common form of advertising used by podcasters is called mid-roll advertising. In the middle of an episode, you’ll notice a commercial. In reality, there are two ads, one on each side of the screen. In the past, FM radio stations used to do this. The primary difference is that you don’t have to buy advertisements.
4. Direct support From Fans For premium content
If you have good content and a good personality, you will attract plenty of fans who will willingly kick in some extra cash to support your show. You can take this money because it does not qualify as wages. This is one of our first recommendations for podcasters who want to realize revenue from podcasting. The easiest way to get started is to start a Patreon account and a page/tab explaining why you deserve support and collecting money.
You can add a Patreon donation form if you would rather not use PayPal, however, and you can even link to your PayPal cash balance. A great way to get your audience to support you is to compensate them with premium content. You could charge them for early access to episodes, bonus episodes, downloadable resources, live chats, or access to newsletters and Facebook groups.
5. Affiliate sales
All sponsorships are essentially disguised comments, but Affiliate Sales are bets that legally allow you to get paid for your mentions. The other company pays for the software for you. They pay a commission for each sale the software generates. You might know Audible’s popular affiliate program, but most podcasters and YouTubers know that it pays you $15 when a listener or viewer buys something through your link. you only get paid $15 when someone clicks on your special link and proceeds to buy something.
If you monetize with affiliate sales, make sure the company gives you a simple link that’s easy for you to say and your listeners to understand. For an instant, Audible.com offers a popular affiliate program for creators. For every referral made to Audible.com from your website, you’ll earn a percentage from every successful sale made.
6. Complementary Products
Podcasts are more likely to monetize if they sell complementary products. These might include accessible merchandise, e-books based on courses, offering consulting services, or promoting live events. Some people choose to sell their own products, but others prefer to use services that handle fulfillment and shipping themselves. You can use a drop-shipping program or third-party print-on-demand services to handle these responsibilities. It’s like your website is an online storefront, and by shopping there, you can put it on your own inventory schedule.
7. Paid Consultations
If you run a podcast that teaches a specific skill or topic, you can make money through consultations. Each consultation is a direct sales model, like affiliate sales, which means you only get paid when you sell something. A great way to get started is to offer consultations as a way to supplement your income. If you do a good job with informational courses, you can charge $250 to speak to a group of 25 people or more. You can even have a one-on-one conversation with clients or listeners from your show and get paid for it.
Conclusion
Some podcasters make very little in the beginning while most beginners make nothing, podcast can be a lucrative career if you stick with it, engage your audience, and consistently create quality content so as to start earning something income from it. For more content like this subscribe to our mailing list for more content like this and you can contact us to get more knowledge for your everyday life.
