6 Simple Ways to Turn Podcasts into Profit

Podcasts are having a moment right now, with no signs of slowing down any time soon.

The name itself reveals the format's antiquity — do people even have iPods anymore? 

But podcasts have been experiencing a fruitful resurgence recently.

Because the number of podcast listeners has grown so much over the last few years, marketers and entrepreneurs have started to explore their potential for helping brands reach interested audiences.

Today, only 6% of marketers are creating podcast content, meaning the format is ripe for the taking.

There's still time to get that first mover advantage that can put you ahead of the pack.

In a recent post, ecommerce blog A Better Lemonade Stand walks you through the process of starting a podcast of your own.

But how do you make a profit from it once it gets popular?

Growth and Monetization

The publicity of your channel does not end at the launch of your first couple of episodes.

It’s an ongoing process that requires a bit of dedication.

Simple things like reminding your listeners to leave a review or share your episode can prove to be extremely effective.

Back this up by providing an incentive to engage with your channel such as giveaways, competitions, prizes and special mentions to highly engaged listeners.

As was the case with the launch, the publicity is not limited to just your podcast so extend this to your business/personal social media and other content platforms to continue spreading the word.

Don’t underestimate having an email list, either.

It’s a good way to keep your audience informed about any updates, to hype your episode by sending out feelers or letting them know if there will be a guest speaker in your next episode that they might be interested in.

Also let your listeners know that you value their time, so if you have any changes to the schedule or are unable to post when you said you would, you will use this mode of communication to let them know.

Lastly, the main thing that will help with the growth of your channel, and in turn your business, is consistency with great content.

Now for the part that actually makes the mullah: there are many different ways to monetize your podcast, but this all depends on your audience engagement and their trust in you and your business.

Once you are able to monetize your podcast, this will snowball into capitalizing your website/blog too (if the RSS feed is on there).

Paid Podcast Model:

1. Once you get to the point that you have a substantial number of episodes out and have amassed a decent following, you can start implementing the pay-per-listen model or have a few episodes free and the rest of your episodes will only be accessible if the listener pays.
2.  
   If your content is brilliant, this paid model could turn into a viable mode of revenue.

Rehashing Your Created Content:

1. You own the copyrights to all the content you produce, therefore it’s up to you what you do with it. You can turn your podcast into a book or any other viable source of content and earn off that.

Selling Your Own Products/Services:

1. The most direct way of advertising is to market your product or service on your own podcast.
2.  
   List all accompanying information, add an anecdote or two, a bit of humor perhaps, and there you have it: your listener numbers soon translate to customer numbers.

Paid Placements:

1. This is basically sponsorship.
2.  
   A sponsor may pay you talk about their product, service or even their own content channels and in return, pay you a fee.
3.  
   If your channel has a lot of followers and is extremely popular, you may even be asked to speak on other channels or host other speakers for a profit.

Funding from Fans:

1. You would be surprised at how many listeners would be willing to support you to get good content in return.
2.  
   All you need to do is set up a GoFundMe or Kickstarter page and ask your listeners, customers, family and friends to support you through contributions.
3.  
   Explain the costs of constantly creating fresh content and the effort it takes. Many people may gladly contribute.

Affiliate Marketing:

1. This works the same way it does with affiliate marketing on YouTube.

2.  

   The only difference is that instead of links, you publicize the product or service and then ask your listeners to use the affiliate code that you provide them while checking out.

Podcasts can be a great addition to your content marketing strategy. Plus, a stand-alone podcast offers a bunch of monetization opportunities once it's gotten popular enough.

You can check out the full guide to starting a podcast over at A Better Lemonade Stand.