Podcast Monetization Secrets

In this episode, Christy deep dives with you into an amazing Avatar building exercise. This really gets inside your avatar's head and their thinking process.

Creating this avatar goes way deeper that most podcasting courses show you, but I'm giving away this information for free!

Here's the amazing thing - once you nail this critical part of creating your show, you basically have a road map to monetizing your podcast.

I've created this worksheet for you and you can download it here - no opt-in required!

I'm even going a step further. If you fill this out and email it back to me at [email protected], I'll send you a Concise Avatar for your show and I'll also send you your Avatar as a Story that has all the copy in it to create your first sales page for monetization!

So fill out your worksheet and do the work required to lay the foundation for your path to monetization!

https://teampodcast.com

You know the money is in the list, but did you also know that the real fortune is in the follow up?

Today, Christy breaks down a 6 step framework to get your new email list warmed up for you and ready to buy your next product.

This 6 step framework can be dripped out over a week, a month or longer, but it's important to begin implementing follow up funnels now, so that in the future, all you need to do is keep adding to them.

Join Christy to learn this sequence, and other aspects of keeping your list warmed up and ready to buy from you!

https://teampodcast.com

This is the second in a series of podcasts that I'm doing about what happens once you get people on your email list. And this is something that I think across the board universally we struggle with if we are podcasters and didn't come to this game from a marketing paradigm. 

Marketers tend to have this stuff down pat, and podcasters, we tend to provide value value, value, value, value, value value value, wait for someone to tap us on the shoulder and say, “Oh, okay, you can monetize now. You're good enough or big enough or worthy enough.” And it's actually not how it works at all. 

So you know, also, if you've listened to any of my podcasts that we are not focused on download numbers. We recognize that download numbers are largely a vanity metric. 

Now, I don't mean that they're not important. They can be important in some situations if you're trying to monetize through sponsorships, which is probably one of the hardest ways to monetize if you ask me. 

But you also have to realize that if a podcast has 40,000 downloads and they haven't monetized and they haven't collected email addresses, simply moving the bar from 40,000 downloads and now they have 60,000 downloads, but they're still not collecting email addresses. They're still not selling anything to that additional 20,000 people you gained on your platform got you nothing. 

So that's what we're wanting to avoid. We're wanting to avoid building a big platform where we have lots of traffic. Those are listeners, those are downloads, those are email opt ins, and then having nowhere to send them means basically, you're not selling anything and you're not giving your listeners a way to follow up with you. 

So when you start a podcast, the very first thing you want to do is focus on collecting those email addresses. That should be more important than “how many downloads I got today”. 

How many email opt-ins did I get today? I'm averaging right now about one a day which is fairly slow growth. And there are days there, there might be days I get five or 10. But if you average it all out, I can count on at least one or two email opt-ins a day. 

I know a lot of the podcasts that I've worked with, many times it takes them months to get their first email opt-in. And part of it's because the way they've set up their podcast and they don't really have a focus on collecting email addresses. 

But the bigger issue becomes, what do you do once you get people on your email list? I talk to people all the time, who have hundreds or even thousands of people on their email list, and they don't really do anything with them. They don't know what to do with them. 

So today, I am going to give you some ideas about how to begin talking to your email list - how to begin nurturing that email list. Different people call these types of funnels or these types of nurturing sequences - they call them different things. They accomplish different purposes. 

When somebody first comes into your world, and gets on your email list, and because they've taken an opt-in, or they've taken a bribe, they've taken a gift that you've offered in exchange for their email. 

Many times, what happens is they get a thank you email for subscribing, along with the delivery of whatever that lead magnet was. And then it's crickets. 

They hear nothing from you. And then somehow, you know, maybe a year, maybe two years, maybe even further than that later, when you finally have your stuff together, and you finally have a product you finally have an offer, if you just go back to that email list and suddenly try to re-engage them around an offer, you're going to find that you really sort of wasted your time and didn't capitalize on the opportunity that that email is created. 

Now, why are we creating an email list? We are creating an email list because it is the only thing you own out of your podcast. I mean, you own your content, but you don't own your Facebook group. You don't own your Twitter stream or whatever you want to call it - your Twitter feed. If you don't own your Instagram, any of those platforms can kick you off at any time. And in a lot of ways, you don't even own your website. 

Sometimes if Google decides you're too spammy, or you're too suspicious, they shut you down. And they basically begin hiding you from all the search engines. And so in a lot of ways, the only thing you can have, the only way you can have as a lifeline to your actual customers is through that email list.

 And the email list becomes sort of your most valuable asset. You hear people say “the money is in the list”. And the thing that's hot today is not going to be hot tomorrow. But if you have these people on your email list that begins to add value to your business assets, so you want to acquire an email list, it's the only way you can truly get in touch with your customers. 

Listen to the full episode to learn what the first nurture sequence you should be planning is.

Resources:

Active Campaign

Clickfunnels

You know I always say that email opt-ins are way more important than downloads in the podcast world, but what should you be doing once you get an email address? The answer to that question is a real problem for most podcasters.

Hey Everyone! This is Christy Haussler, CEO and owner of Team Podcast and I’m your host here at Podcast Monetization Secrets. I just want to welcome you to the podcast and let you know I’m glad you found your way here because this is exactly where you need to be to get access to all of the BEST ways YOU can monetize your podcast.

In case you don’t know me, I teach podcasters just like you to monetize their podcasts and how to break free from giving away their content or getting stuck in what I call “free content creation mode”.

So be sure to subscribe to the Monetization Secrets Podcast from on the platform from which you listen. AND be sure to join us at TEAMPODCAST.com to keep up with the latest podcast monetization secrets, trends, and to sign up for our superb podcast production and podcast monetization services. My team, hundreds of satisfied clients, and I guarantee you will be glad you did!

So whether you’re looking for podcast editing, show notes, marketing funnels for your podcast, or any other thing podcast-related, Team Podcast will meet your needs and EXCEED your expectations! So, once again, check us out at www.TEAMPODCAST.com.

Lately, as I’ve been pivoting Team Podcast more towards helping podcasters monetize through evergreen sales funnels, I’m coming across a glaring problem. 

To be honest, I know exactly why it’s a problem, because I have also been plagued by this problem. 

The problem is not knowing what to do with your email list once you begin building one.

Now, for the die-hard marketers, this is really an unbelievable problem, but to the average business owner, and the average podcaster, it’s a huge gaping hole in our strategy.

So first of all, let me tell you the things I think are the root causes of this problem.

#1 - First of all, it feels like it’s a place where you should be creating more content. In other words, we aren’t emailing our lists because we either don’t have the time to create more content to send out. I mean, you’re probably already behind on creating content for your podcast and adding something else is just not possible.

#2 - Many of us have a technology barrier to making this happen. So, either you’ve got your systems duct taped together trying to function as a cohesive machine and it just doesn’t work. You don’t know what to switch to that will solve this problem without creating a new learning curve for you.

#3 - Another reason we aren’t engaging with our email list is because we have a resource issue. Whether that resource is that we don’t have a team member to take over the tasks of email marketing for you, or maybe because you have not made the financial investment in the systems to help automate this process and make it easier.

Investing in keeping your email list engaged and ready to hear from you is one of the best investments you will make.

If you are subscribed to an email list, where the list owner is active and sending out interesting content and compelling offers regularly, I can guarantee you they have help in making this happen.

This is a problem that we all need to get a handle on asap because the more you grow your list, the bigger the problem becomes.

I’ve got several new clients that we are doing podcast production for and building marketing funnels for. In consulting with them to assess where they currently were in their marketing journey, they universally knew that their level of engagement with their lists was lacking.

They had no process in place to regularly email their list interesting content. And you know what? It didn’t matter the size of their list - some had lists of tens of thousands of people that had basically heard nothing from them since they signed up. Others had lists of thousands that were basically dormant.

If we want to be successful in marketing, we have to solve this problem. It will be worth it to throw whatever time or money you have at this problem to work it out now, before you focus on growing your email list any further.

So, in these next few episodes, I am going to work along with you to solve this problem. I’m going to solve the problem for myself and I will show you how you can solve it too!

So, just to make sure we start at square one, let me be very clear about it - you need to have multiple ways to capture email addresses of your ideal clients.

Do you realize that right now, all across the world, there are events - now mainly virtual events that are being planned and produced for the sole purpose of data acquisition? So, what I am saying to you is that companies are spending months of time and thousands of dollars to put on an event so that they can get email addresses from the attendees.

If you and I spent months of our lives and tens of thousands of dollars to put on these events just for the sake of growing our email lists, don’t you think we would also make sure we had an airtight plan for what happens once they get on the list?

We absolutely would. So this week, my plea to you is to figure out how you can get more people opting in to your email list. Create a juicer, sexier giveaway to get them there. What’s the biggest thing you can give away for free to get folks on your email list? 

You want to have multiple ways people can get on your list. The more places you have to send this traffic to capture an email address, the more you can see which channels are the most effective.

So, this week’s framework for growing your email list is:

1. Create at least 3 viable ways people can get on your email list. For me, I have a free lead magnet that I run ads for opt-ins, I have people going on my list that schedule a free consultation with me about their podcast production and I set up my private FB group to capture as many emails as possible from the people who want to join.
2. Create multiple lead magnets to see which offers convert better. I have a client that created a free lead magnet and got a few sign ups from his podcast, but it wasn’t until he created a free mini-webinar for his niche and began running ads to the webinar that his email list exploded. Obviously, his niche has spoken and the more educational content he can provide, the bigger his email list will grow.
3. Begin thinking outside the box about ways to make some of your normally free content a way to capture even more emails. 
4. Could you record a podcast episode with a big person in your niche and only offer it as a download when people opt in with an email address?
5. Could you give access to something you are already doing behind the scenes to those who give you their email?
6. Are there resource lists or how-to videos that you have for the tools of the trade for you niche that you could begin leveraging to grow your email list?

Next week, we will begin laying down a tried and true framework for establishing regular contact with your email list.

In the meantime, I’m happy to announce the first ever Podcast Monetization Summit will be held Oct. 15-17 - it’s an all virtual event, completely focused on monetization that will allow you to hear exactly how other successful podcasters are making a living from their podcast. It will be 3 days packed with monetization plans and ideas that you can implement for your own podcast. Most podcasting events focus on all aspects of podcasting, but this is one entire even focused specifically on the monetization aspect.

Let’s face it, if we as podcasters don’t get better at monetizing our shows, if we don’t turn monetization from an art into a science, then podcasting will be reduced to the status of the next get-rich-quick-scheme. So, that’s why we are creating this event, and I can’t wait to see how many podcasts we can get monetized after the summit.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks as we begin to announce speakers because it’s going to be amazing!

So, until then, if you want to connect with me, you can join our private Facebook Group called Podcast Monetization Secrets over on Facebook, and if you need help with the production or monetization of your podcast, go to Teampodcast.com and schedule some time to chat with me.

The podcasting model is broken...

There I said it. We've got everyone and their Mother thinking that starting a podcast is a great idea.

Everyone says just start...just do it...just put it out there.

I've seen the end result of just putting it out there and I'm here to tell you it isn't pretty. Podcasters come to me overwhelmed, exhausted, frazzled, out of money and completely battered and broken because their podcast has become their most expensive hobby and it's consumed their lives.

Their families are suffering. Their relationships are suffering. Their own mental health is suffering.

It doesn't have to be that way.

"If you build it, they will come" is one of the worst lies we have ever told ourselves.

No, they won't come.

I'm here to put a stake in the ground and say ENOUGH! We don't have to settle for this.

There is a better way!

Listen to this episode to find out what the better way is.

You can also join us in our private Facebook group at https://facebook.com/groups/PodcastMonetizationSecrets

Hindsight is 20/20 they always say. I've had a huge does of hindsight over the last month and I have realized that I made a fundamental mistake when I set up my podcast and my business.

The good news is that now I have the opportunity to fix my mistake and when I fix it, it will dramatically change the results that I am getting in my business.

The lessons I share today will also apply to your business.

Listen in today as Christy shares her fundamental mistake she made when she started her podcast and her business.

Join her in the Podcast Monetization Secrets Facebook Group tomorrow, where she will walk you through her Trello board to show you exactly how she's correcting her mistakes!

After you launch a podcast, the next question always becomes, "How can I grow my audience?" It seems like this question gets asked in a lot of Facebook groups and I get it weekly it seems from clients and others.

Most people start by trying to grow their audience on social media. The average podcaster comes into podcasting with only a small social media following. So, when we start ramping up promotional efforts on social media, our reach is limited by our following.

It should also be said that if you are getting zero traction on social media, the best thing to do is NOT to double down on the things that aren't working.

I mean, 2x0 is still 0, right? So, if everyone connected to you on social media are ignoring your podcast posts, doubling the amount of posts you make won't help the situation, it only makes it worse.

Join Christy today as she shares this little known tip about advertising your podcast in the one place where you already know everyone listens to podcasts!

If you'd like to discuss more about monetizing your podcast, please come join our private Facebook group at https://facebook.com/groups/PodcastMonetizationSecrets

"Ye have not because ye ask not!" This Bible verse was one I learned as a child. It relates to today's topic perfectly. The majority of podcasts in the Apple Podcast directory are NOT monetized.

Why are podcasters not monetizing their show? Well, to say it's complicated is an understatement, but the most glaring reason is that most podcasters aren't selling anything - not their services, not products, not their ideas, not their time, nothing. There is no opportunity for many podcast listeners to take the next step with the podcast host.

In order to monetize you MUST sell something. Figuring out what to sell is a matter of trying to productize as many offerings as you can to serve your audience.

Listen in to today's episode as Christy shares ideas to get your offerings productized and ready to sell to your audience.

If you'd like to join our private Facebook group, join us at https://facebook.com/group/PodcastMonetizationSecrets

Whether you have engineered your podcast for monetization or not, there are other factors that could sideline you from the monetization game.

Besides having a monetizable niche and podcast, you could the biggest factor holding back your revenue growth. How can you know?

In today's episode, Christy discusses the 4 Stages of Value and what the characteristics are for each stage. Only 2 of the 4 stages are perfect for monetizing a podcast.

Listen in today to find out where you are on the 4 Stages of Value and what you need to do to get to the next level and prepare your show for monetization!

You can always join our private Facebook group at https://facebook.com/group/PodcastMonetizationSecrets

By now, you should have realized that I live and die by frameworks! When you understand the power of frameworks, you can easily map out a course or develop a new product.

Developing your own frameworks is the key to establishing yourself as an expert in any niche.

Today, Christy gives you the framework for developing your own frameworks. This framework is one that I've learned from my mentor, Russell Brunson, and every time I implement it, it keeps me on track.

Tune in today to learn how to develop your own frameworks, which is the key to unlocking the monetization of your podcast!

If you'd like to learn more about monetizing your podcast, you can join our private Facebook group, Podcast Monetization Secrets.