Giving you immediate access to the ear drums of millions of people, with next to no investment and just the time you chat.
As your investment of time grows with the publishing of new episodes, the challenge is to find a return that equates.
The most common question I get is how do I monetise my podcast.
There are several solutions from creating an income through to corporate investment.
What we recommend is clever and efficient. It’s time to get better at making a profit.
Below is an outline of how embedding your why into your podcast can make it a profitable use of your time.
What is a profitable podcast?
A profitable podcast looks at the time and money you are investing into the podcast each month, every quarter and over the course of the year and assess whether it’s worth it!
Metrics of a Podcast
Success and Profits need to be measured definitely and the intention of your podcast should be the first metric you consider.
ROI – Change the mindset of your listener and have an impact on your audience.
ROI – Downloads, social engagement, brand awareness and increased sales. “Cash generated” is not the only way to measure a podcast’s profitability.
Most people want to make an impact, but developing a stream of income from your podcast can come from two different sources: your guests and your listeners. Your podcast may never generate cash directly, but you can achieve indirect business benefits such as:
- Brand awareness
- Employee engagement
- Learning
Why should your podcast become profitable?
If you run the show for six months, watch as downloads rise a little, but business tasks and life starts to become the priority:
- You go on holidays
- You land a bigger client
- You’re invited onto another project
Now these reasons could justify you stopping your podcast but if it’s not creating any benefit it’s more likely that a life event like these will get in the way of you and your ability to grow your show in the future.
We know you are in this to “help people.” But what you must understand is that you can help more people if you can make a profit. When you can generate income, you can then:
- Hire an editor
- Take your guest out for brunch
- Upgrade your microphone
- Improve your listener experience
- Create engaging digital assets/website
Those well produced podcasts that you listen to, didn’t start out that way. It’s only over time, that they become able to create something amazing.
Podcasting is about investing over the long term.
The only way you will get yourself, your CEO (or accountant!), to give you more marketing budget for your podcast is if you can show some kind of ROI.
The Three Simple Steps to Podcast Profitability
1 Niche your Niche
Focus. Narrow in. Grow an audience by being very specific in each episode.
Baby : Products : Environmental : Creams
2. Invest Your Time in Guests
A strategic plan for your podcast is investing time in guests and their content. Leverage their audience.
This needs to come from a genuine place. You know them already or you might meet them and connect instantly. As podcasting is still quite new, they may have never done a podcast before so you may need to invest time in developing their content with them that is relevant to your podcast. Having done this, I can tell you they will be grateful and the mutual benefit is a loyalty building exercise and they will always remember the help you gave them. Well most do.
It’s nerve racking and something does happen to people when you put a microphone in front of them. So be patient, encouraging and kind. Spend time before hand getting to know them but not so much that you don’t sound curious in their interview. Also encourage exclusivity. Ask them to speak with you about something that no one else has spoken to them about.
Find guests that are great for listeners and will develop strategic relationships :
- They will have something valuable to offer to your audience..
- Offer to write a blog in your niche, use their comments as an authority and provide a backlink.
- Discuss the mutual offering before the interview.
- They may have a larger audience on a different channel or platform.
Short term podcast profits comes from the strategic guest relationships you develop.
3. The connector to the problem solver.
‘When I invest more, I get more listeners and my content improves’. – Nicole
Profit comes from the ability to turn listeners into leads and you can do this by understanding the real problem. It’s the one beneath the perceived problem that they share. If you can provide a solution, you are positioning yourself as the go to. If you can’t – talk to the people that can on your podcast.
Offer that piece of information in exchange for an email address by inviting them to download the PDF, read the blog or watch an online video. This nurtures the leads towards your brand and ultimately monetise the podcast.
At ShirePOD we facilitate hundreds of interviews and quite often the have recommendations and organisational referrals that can be involved as sponsors. It becomes a beautiful trilogy of connection.
- Audio Inserts: This is where you insert compelling audio CTA’s to attend your next webinar, download your eBook, or book a demo into every previous episode in just a few clicks. Usually a free opt in.
- Auto Optin: Encourage your listeners to subscribe to your podcast, opt in to your email newsletter, or request more information on your premium content via email link.
- Audio Newsletter: This is the delivery of information with product reviews and what’s happening. These are really effective for listeners who don’t have the capacity to read every email, or wish to multitask. If you have corporate partnerships or sponsors, recording your one off message (usually 30-60 seconds) will give them great and expected exposure.
Learn more about how we can help you reach your employees, prospects, and customers through podcasting.
And there we have it. A guide on why and how your podcast needs to become more profitable if you are going to thrive in the podcast landscape marketing space in 2021 and please call us if you would love to know more or need help with strategy
Podcast Strategy Session A personalised approach to finding you the guests, products and services that align with your podcast
In this session we unpack your content ideas for your podcast and make important alignments with products, services, organisations and guests. We provide you with access to other guests and help you find the connections that would offer value to both audiences.
