Podcast Monetization Secrets

In today’s episode, I’ll want you to have an open mind and look at what I’ll talk to you about from a business perspective. So far, I’ve taught you about a few ways that you can monetize your podcast, and today I want to highlight the fact that you can charge guests for their interviews. I know. It’s a controversial method, but remember, you’re spending time and money so your podcast can succeed. And it’s only right that you get a return on that investment, but only if charging your guests is a viable option for your show.

A lot of people in the industry are against charging guests. But if your audience is to the point where guests are willing to pay for the exposure, by all means, charge them for a spot on the show. People willing to pay to be on a podcast, or people who are trying to get their name out, likely already have a brand of their own to promote. Dive into this value-packed 23-minute episode and learn all about the strategies you can use to implement this monetization model in your podcast.

Show Highlights

• Why you should not solicit people to be guests on your show and then charge them for it (02:43)
• Pitching it as a paid traffic opportunity (04:20)
• Demonstrating return on ad spend to potential guests before they pay to come on (06:04)
• The value exchange that should be the podcast host-guest relationship (11:09)
• Knowing more about your audience and what converts (13:11)
• Monetization idea: Getting people to sponsor your newsletter if it’s going to offer any value to your listeners (15:41)
• Being strategic and ethical about how you monetize your guest bookings (18:22)
• It’s okay to borrow from other podcasters’ monetization models if they will work for your podcast (20:20)
• Creating more than one monetization stream to have a hedge against any problems that may come up with any of them (22:13)

Want to learn more? Join our private Facebook group here!

You can also find Christy and her team at www.teampodcast.com!

In today’s episode, I’m going to tell you how you can monetize your podcast so you can move away from offering free content and start making some money from it. For a lot of podcasters, podcasting is just something they do on the side and not a money-making endeavor. But there are several ways you can make money from your podcast. From asking your listeners for donations to getting sponsors or utilizing affiliate marketing, there are many viable options when it comes to podcast monetization.

And today, I’ll dive into another equally viable option of monetizing your podcast; selling your own products. Now, you may be thinking, “Wait a minute. I don’t have any products or services to sell” But I wanna tell you that indeed you do. And I’m not talking about merch (although that could be something to consider down the line!). I want to focus more on products that require minimal or one-time input and effort on your part with regards to time and money, but which can generate and yield continual income, essentially giving you more bucks for your bang. Listen in for more on that!

Show Highlights

• Are you ready to put in the necessary work to monetize your podcast (02:23)
• Building a back end to direct your listeners to so they can buy your digital products (04:40)
• Creating ads to throw out hooks that will draw people in (08:00)
• Being salesy in your episodes is not bad (10:54)
• You can halt releasing new episodes to focus on putting together your minimum viable product (13:37)
• Overcoming the challenges that come with creating a suitable product (17:11)
• Go out and start making your podcast listeners your customers (18:53)

Want to learn more? Join our private Facebook group here!

You can also find Christy and her team at www.teampodcast.com!

In today’s episode, I’m going to talk about a little hack for how to grow your audience through your content that most podcasters don’t take advantage of or even don’t know about. How can I grow my podcast audience? That’s one of the most frequently asked questions in the space. A lot of podcasters ask me whether it’s worth it to invest in social media and other platforms to increase their number of listeners, but the truth is, those platforms don’t have much to do with it. 

You love the thought of reaching more people with your podcast. Right? There's real satisfaction in seeing a steady increase in download numbers when you're checking your stats. But there's no one-size-fits-all answer here. It depends on a lot of different factors, and in this episode, I’ll tell you one of the things that you can do to grow your podcast in the most highly targeted way. So take your pen and paper, and stay tuned for more!

Show Highlights

• Is it worth it to invest in social media and other platforms to grow your audience? (01:34)
• Creating content that your audience wants to hear (02:04)
• Know who your audience is, what they want to hear, and why SEO is the best podcast audience growth tactic (03:29)
• Being the answer to the questions people are asking (05:00)
• Why you need to make sure that you’re in the search-based realm all day every day and how to do it (08:30)
• Using keywords to figure out the kind of content your target listeners are always looking for (11:00)
• The real power of using SEO to grow a podcast (14:00)
• Titling your podcast episodes based on what people are looking for (21:35)
• Content marketing: The ease of growing a podcast from organic content (23:01)
• Tools you can use to learn what content to create (26:00)

Want to learn more? Join our private Facebook group here!

You can also find Christy and her team at www.teampodcast.com!

In today’s episode, I’m going to talk about why monetizing your podcast is a great idea. I get it if the thought of it makes you uncomfortable because it makes you feel like you will be a sellout or inauthentic especially if your podcast is more purpose-driven. But one of the biggest problems that podcasters face is the high cost of sustaining their shows in the long term and monetizing not only creates revenue streams but also adds value to a show’s audience in different ways.

It enables a podcaster to consistently bring their A-game to their show every day and they can infuse the revenue streams back into the show’s production to create a better listening experience. Now, don’t get me wrong. Focusing too much on creating a monetary stream might cause you to make decisions that don’t serve your audience so you have to be careful how you go about it all. Tune in as I share some tricks, benefits, considerations and best practices that will help you monetize your podcast while still achieving your core mission.

Show Highlights

• Successfully implementing your podcast ideas one at a time (01:57)
• The sales mentality that some podcasters struggle with especially when they have a value proposition point of view (02:34)
• There is no shame in monetizing your podcast (04:57)
• Your podcast generating revenue = Being able to continuously release content and scale your impact (06:20)
• There’s no perceived value from giving free content all the time (07:30)
• How I came into podcasting (08:23)
• Eliminating everything in your life that you don’t like due to monetization (13:11)
• Putting money behind the content to put out there (17:50)
• Getting over your money blocks and resistance to sales (21:38)
• Developing a lifestyle that you can maintain and live your best life (25:12)

Want to learn more? Join our private Facebook group here!

You can also find Christy and her team at www.teampodcast.com!

Want to learn more? Join our private Facebook group here!

You can also find Christy and her team at www.teampodcast.com!

In today’s episode, I’m going to talk about what funnels and how you can turn your podcast into one. Are you familiar with funnels? You’ve probably been funneled plenty of times online even without realizing it. Podcast marketing has really grown over the years and I wanna teach you how you can exploit that growth, attract more listeners, and generate revenue. A lot of podcasters launch their podcasts with tons of momentum at the beginning, but after months and months of putting out free content and spending a huge chunk of money keeping their podcasts afloat, they realize that they can’t keep going because they can’t afford it.

That’s because they don’t figure out one crucial thing before they launch their podcast. And that’s what I’m gonna share with you in this episode. So if you want to start a podcast, or you already have one and you’re trying to figure out how to increase your listeners, monetize, or drive revenue directly to your business, this episode is perfect for you. Stay tuned for more!

Show Highlights

• What funnels really are and the value they can create for you as a podcaster (02:08)
• Turning your organic traffic of listeners into leads or customers (03:47)
• Why it’s important to know exactly what you want to do with your audience and how to serve them (05:31)
• Your podcast as the vehicle and the funnel as the road (10:39)
• Using your podcast to give samples of your product or service and how you can start charging for that product or service (13:21)
• Are 700 downloads a month good enough? (19:12)
• Figuring out what product or service you want to offer so you can build your podcast around it (25:20)

Want to learn more? Join our private Facebook group here!

You can also find Christy and her team at www.teampodcast.com!

In this episode, I’ll talk about why it’s so important for you to take action immediately in implementing that podcast idea that you’ve had for a while now. As I’m sure you know, podcast listenership keeps growing tremendously with roughly 90 million Americans listening to a podcast each month. This is really enticing for you as a business owner. Right? And you’ve been learning to start a podcast so you can reach this growing audience and expand your business through content marketing, but you just can’t seem to be able to do whatever’s necessary to launch that podcast.

Well, the problem is slowness in implementation because you’re stuck in analysis paralysis. One of the biggest hindrances to success in podcasting is the fact that some podcasts don’t even get to launch in the first place because the podcasting idea is stuck in someone’s mind. That’s a problem that so many potential podcasters fall prey to. They will have the idea and even seek help from an expert like me, but once they have the relevant information, they shelf the idea and take months or years before they start implementing things. 

The problem with that is that the podcasting industry keeps evolving constantly and what works in the space today might be totally irrelevant tomorrow. One even ends up finding that someone else took action faster to launch a podcast in the niche that they were interested in. What a bummer! This is what I wanna address today so listen in to the episode to get the tips and tricks that will help you take the drastic and uncomfortable measures to kick yourself into the implementation mode that will launch you towards success in podcasting. Enjoy!

Show Highlights

• Helping over 300 podcasters produce and monetize their podcasts over the last six years (00:28)
• One of the biggest no-no’s if you are looking to start a podcast (02:04)
• Why you need to take action and keep moving to determine where you’re going (03:36)
• Avoid over-analyzing, overthinking, and over perfecting, and instead start ugly, implement, and iterate (06:33)
• The harm of trying to do everything for your podcast (07:29)
• Doing what you need to do to kick your own butt (10:19)
• Investing in a team to help you produce and manage your podcast to avoid the costs associated with podfading (11:43)
• Getting out of your comfort zone in order to implement and maintaining focus and accountability (15:42)
• How I set big goals and build systems and structures around them to ensure that I achieve them (22:40)

Want to learn more? Join our private Facebook group here!

You can also find Christy and her team at www.teampodcast.com!

This is the second episode on podcast sponsorship. Everyone assumes that sponsorship is the default way to make money with a podcast, and the truth is that it's one of the hardest ways to monetize.

Podcasters who don't know any better start making mistakes with their sponsorships and I've made thousands of dollars fixing their mistakes. The alternative means that you give up the future value of your podcast.

I'd rather tell you about this mistake so you can avoid it now, rather than having to charge you a pile of money later to fix the mistakes!

You'll have to listen to the episode to get the full run down, but today I'm explaining why you need to use a podcast hosting company that has dynamic ad insertion technology before you ever begin to accept sponsors - even if you have a non-traditional podcast sponsor relationship.

Dynamic Ad Insertion technology can be an expensive option to get through your hosting company. I always recommend Captivate as a podcast host because I use it and love it, and they have the dynamic ad insertion technology in beta testing right now.

However, you can also use AdBarker with virtually any podcast hosting company and it will cost you around $50 to have access to this technology. Trust me, if you understand what this episode is about, paying $50 to preserve your future value is well worth it.

Listen to the full episode to understand exactly how you can squeeze the most value out of any sponsorship.

Want to learn more? Join our private Facebook group here!

You can also find Christy and her team at www.teampodcast.com!

It seems like the first question any podcaster asks after they get started is "When can I get sponsors?" or "How many downloads do I need to approach sponsors?".

The answer really is "it depends..."

Before you even begin to think about sponsors, you need to understand the eco-system.

Like many other industries, there are plenty of people willing to take advantage of new podcasters and the game is already tilted in favor of the big money, so you need to know the field you are playing in first.

There are 3 Basic types of podcast sponsors:

1) Traditional Sponsors

2) Non-traditional Sponsors

3) Dynamically inserted ads

All of these are valid ways for podcasters to make money, but they key is to align the sponsorship models with the type of podcast that it best serves.

Listen to the episode as I break down the pros and cons of each type as well as who each model works best for.

Want to learn more? Join our private Facebook group here!

You can also find Christy and her team at www.teampodcast.com!

Forget the traditional elevator pitch, we've moved on to something even more important!

If you can't boil who you serve and how you serve them to into one sentence, then you're always going to be missing the mark when it comes to landing clients from your podcast audience.

The framework I use for creating this statement is:

I help _________ (who), __________________ (do what) by using _________________(the vehicle), so they can ____________. (end result)

So, my mission statement is:

I help podcasters create multiple streams of income by using their podcast to create evergreen marketing funnels, so that they can enjoy lifestyle freedom.

It's so powerful when you can sum up everything you do for your ideal customer is one sentence that is easily understandable and that your ideal client will understand.

In this episode, I share a powerful example of how easy it is for podcasters to get out of alignment from their podcast avatar, to their value ladder mission statement, to their first offer.

Listen to the show to hear how I break it down and pass along tips that can help you get clear so that you aren't confusing your audience!

Want to learn more? Join our private Facebook group here!

You can also find Christy and her team at www.teampodcast.com!

Most of the podcast gurus (I’m not one of them!) will tell you that if you want to have a successful podcast, you should just start. Just get yourself a mic and start recording.

It sounds so simple and to be honest, this kind of terrible advice is exactly why so many podcasts end up podfading.

One of the most basic frameworks for selling anything is:

1. Create an offer
2. Drive traffic to the offer
3. Rinse and repeat

When you just jump in and start creating a podcast without figuring out who you serve and how you serve them, before you’ve created an offer, this is what actually happens:

1. Gather audience
2. Gather audience
3. Gather audience

That is exactly how a podcaster gets stuck with the creator’s curse - free content creation mode!

A podcaster could take that framework and:

1. Gather audience
2. Ask them what they need
3. Create what they need
4. Sell them what they need

However, most podcasters never make it beyond step 1.

Picture this…

You see an ad in your local newspaper for a new restaurant.

You turn on the TV and you see a commercial for that same restaurant.

Then you pull up your social media accounts and everywhere you turn, you are seeing that local restaurant announcing their grand opening.

You and your friends decide to give it a try.

You go into the restaurant and all they are doing today is giving out samples.

So take a sample or 3 and see which one you like best.

In fact, they invite you to come back tomorrow for another sample.

There’s no menu.

There’s no cash register.

You can’t place an order. 

All you can do is get a sample. 

But why should anyone be mad about that because the samples are free?

How long will this restaurant stay in business?

This is exactly the model that most podcasts are built on.

They are perpetually creating samples and never going all the way to solve their audience’s problems.

If you are truly serious about monetizing your podcast, you have to begin selling something.

Before you bristle at the word sell, let me just remind you that nothing in this world happened today until somebody sold something.

Do you have a roof over your head? It’s because someone sold something.

Did you eat today? It happened because someone somewhere sold something.

Do you have a job? That is because someone sold something.

If no one sells anything, the world as we know it ceases to exist.

The economy crashes. Governments shut down. People starve.

I can surely say that selling can save the world!

Don’t be afraid to sell something. All commerce in the world starts and ends with a sale.

There’s no shame in it - especially if you are providing value.

There must be a value exchange in order for a podcast to survive.

No one wants to build a huge audience of people who only want free stuff.

Freebie seekers are never anyone’s ideal customer.

If you don’t already have an offer, put one together. Figure out how to serve your audience and charge for it.

You can learn more about monetizing your podcast by joining our private Facebook group called Podcast Monetization Secrets.

If you need help creating your offers, you can contact me at www.teampodcast.com.