Updated: July 21, 2020
Friends have asked me, “Why did you create a podcast?”
My primary answer is because I want my advocacy of financial literacy to reach more people. But as a secondary reason, I also want to explore and see if I could earn good money from it.
Six months into podcasting and three seasons into the show, I’ve learned a lot on how to monetize a podcast. And those lessons are what I’m going to share with you today.
When I started podcasting, I used my smartphone to record my episodes and uploaded them on a free podcast hosting service.
And fortunately, since then, I’ve managed to earn enough to buy a decent condenser mic and a paid podcast hosting plan from Buzzsprout.
As of writing, I earn an average of P5,000 per month from my podcast. This is already good, considering that I have less than 1,000 listeners.
So, if you’re a podcaster with a small but engaged community of listeners, then here are some monetization strategies you can do.
How to Earn From Podcasting
1. Work with sponsors.
This is the most obvious way to make money from your podcast. But it’s also the most difficult to do in my opinion because most brands are used to working with publishers with large numbers.
If you’re just starting, one strategy is to sign up with a podcast network or create a partnership with other podcasters. With your numbers combined, getting sponsors for everyone can be easier.
2. Partner with affiliates.
Earn commission from selling products and services of other businesses. Check your podcast host if they offer affiliate partnerships to their users because they often do.
Moreover, a lot of brands are open to this type of partnership even to small publishers. So, don’t be afraid to contact them.
3. Sell a product or service.
Of course, you can just sell your products or services on your podcast. Create merchandise like shirts or stickers. Offer digital downloads such as ebooks or music. Or sell online courses, coaching sessions, or consultation services.
4. Grow your career or business.
Podcasts can be used to build your personal brand. A friend received a good job offer (which he accepted) because someone from the company stumbled upon his podcast and liked what they heard.
Podcasts can also serve as a marketing channel for your business. For example, some Philippine companies who have podcasts are stockbroker, FirstMetroSec; nutrition company, Wyeth Philippines; and clothing brand, Linya-Linya.
5. Syndicate your show.
Some podcasts syndicate video episodes on Facebook and/or YouTube, which allows them to reach a wider audience and more importantly, earn from the monetization options of those platforms.
Related to this, you can also repurpose your content, such as publishing your episode transcripts into a book. Or sign a book or movie deal based on your podcast stories.
6. Get support from listeners.
Lastly, you can crowdfund your income. If you’re providing quality content, then your listeners will be more than happy to support your podcast.
The most popular method is to set up a Patreon campaign. But you can also produce premium episodes that people have to pay to listen to. Or just simply ask for donations every now and then.
Final Tips
It is possible to make money and earn from your podcast even if you have a small audience.
However, it’s still important to put time and effort into growing your numbers. Achieving this, combined with quality content and a loyal fan base of listeners, it will be possible to make podcasting your main source of income.
AND ONE MORE THING…
If you’re a podcaster, especially if you’re using the free hosting services of Anchor, then I encourage you to sign up for PODMETRICS.
Podmetrics is an analytics platform that will help you aggregate the data of your listeners from different podcasting apps, monetize your content, and predict the performance of your show.
I am an affiliate partner of Podmetrics, so please use 80PERCENT as your referral code when you sign up for Podmetrics.
And to express my gratitude when you do this, I’ll give you additional resources on how to make money from your podcast. Yeah, that’s a deal!
Lastly, if you still haven’t done so, then I hope you can check out my podcast. It’s called The 80 Percent and you can listen and subscribe to it:
[…] As a side note, there was a huge growth in podcasting for the Philippines last year. If you’re thinking of starting one yourself, then here’s an article on how you can make money from podcasting. […]