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You produce a podcast that you make available for free and in fact spend lots of your own money on (if you’re truly invested). So how does your podcast pay you back?
A podcast pays in both tangible and non-tangible ways. In this episode I cover all of the ways I’ve found to make money from your podcast as well as how to see value in your show when you aren’t seeing cash. In a lot of cases, money is not the goal of the podcast producer and even those that have an interest in making money from their show need to understand all of the ways a podcast pays back.
- Affiliate Accounts: Quite possibly the easiest way for your podcast to earn real income is to make sure you sign up for affiliate accounts with sites such as Amazon or any other retailer who has products that you are promoting on your show.
- Donations: Don’t be embarrassed to ask for donations. It can help offset the cost of producing a podcast and often times you have people in your audience who understand all the hard work you put into producing your podcast. Let them donate.
- Ads: There are a hundred different ways to approach getting sponsors. There are network sites like Blubrry.com who will find the sponsors for you or you can go out and get your own. This is often the most difficult way to get income from your show but it can also be the most lucrative.
- Premium Content: It’s possible to make your back catalog or even your entire show pay-for-content. Libsyn.com now offers a service that will allow you to determine how much of your feed is premium.
Non-tangible Returns on Your Podcast
- Subscribers: Every new subscriber is cash in the bank for a podcast. In podcasting, it’s all about the audience.
- Email List: If someone is willing to give you their email, consider that as good or better than a donation. Email’s can be used to reach your audience from now until they unsubscribe so it’s a pretty big return when your audience likes you enough to give you access to their email inbox. Treat it wisely. This could be your only link to your audience should something go wrong with your hosting, podcatcher, etc.
- Reviews, Comments, Social Sharing: Anytime someone gives you a review on iTunes, a comment on your site, a Like on Facebook or any other feedback, you’ve been paid. These help increase your visibility in search engines be it Google or iTunes or wherever else people can find your show.
- Emails and Voice Feedback: When people leave you feedback or ask questions, this is content you can use to power your show. Including your listeners in the content of your episodes increases their investment in your podcast as well as helps you create content which can be a challenge after producing a lot of episodes.
- Word Of Mouth: Just as it reads. When people tell their peers, you win. More subscribers leads to more podcast currency.
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