I will never forget the year when the Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog sold a pound of collard greens for $66 dollars. SIXTY SIX DOLLARS! Collard greens cost (at that time) around $1 a bushel. And, unless they had a kitchen of cute little Southern grandmas making them, those greens weren’t going to taste good. Then there’s the fact that people have sold toast with Jesus allegedly on it. That year Neiman Marcus also sold a smooth rocks wrapped in a leathery pouch for around $99 dollars. But, I won’t ever forget when 3 people paid over $120,000 for an art installation at Art Basel Miami.
What was the installation? A banana duct taped to a wall. I’m serious. Why am I sharing these different products with you dear podcasters? Because I need you to understand that monetization for your show isn’t just selling ads. There are a redunkulous number of ways that people make money out there in the world and I have decided to share 15 monetization strategies that are accessible to most podcasters.
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Podcast Movement Denver
The irony isn’t lost on me that I DO have a brand sponsor for this episode. But, I love this organization and the welcoming space that it has created to nurture audio and visual creativity from creatives across the world. Often we’re creating alone. I’m so excited to be partnering with Podcast Movement as we head towards Podcast Movement Denver. As a proud Denverite who is also a multi-passionate podcaster, I truly hope to see you at the conference and for you to experience: the community, connection and all of the amazing content that fellow hosts/producers will be sharing with attendees.
I’ve attended Podcast Movement Anaheim, Orlando and Nashville and have also attended Podcast Movement Evolutions in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. I’ve also spoken at several of these events. Podcasting, for me, bridges the gap in media. We creators can design, create and have the conversations that aren’t being held anywhere else. It’s my hope that you attend Podcast Movement Denver and share your expertise, content and vision with us. Go to podcastmovement.com and click on the events tab for more details about the event. Looking forward to seeing you in Denver!
Podcasters Getting Paid
Are you the host of a small show and trying to figure out how to monetize your project? Sign up for Podcasters Getting Paid, a library of monetization ideas specifically curated for hosts of small shows. Podcast monetization isn’t just ads. Sign up today to gain access to: office hours, insight from podcasters making money with their small shows, workshops and more.
Show Notes
While I do work with brand partners, a key area of monetization that I focus on is related to bringing in revenue that doesn’t impact my show and that my listeners have no idea about. Whether it’s passive income from my romance novels sales, courses or freelance writing-I like to earn income in a number of different ways. If you’ve been wondering how you can monetize your brand without ads, continue to listen on.
I’ve broken up this list of 15 different monetization strategies into the following types of designations.
- Short-term-These are typically service focused strategies that produce a financial return sooner rather than later.
- The Middle-These strategies take a little longer to build up and out. Some of these may overlap with long-term strategies.
- Long-Term-You’re focusing on a long-term strategy to build these revenues streams and like won’t see a return for at least the first 6 months working on these strategies. Not for the faint of heart-but, worth it!
Short-Term Monetization
- Podcast Virtual Assistant Work-Assist podcasters with all of the administrative tasks related to running a show. A Podcast VA could also provide social media support, technical support, etc. It depends on the service package that they decide to design.
- Freelance writing-I’ve talked about this often in monetization conversations. Freelance writing is a great way to grow your brand, get recognized as an authority and grow backlinks to your website and show. You do have to be careful with this one because it has the potential to take over other parts of your brand and become THE business that you’re in.
- Podcast Production-This is ideal for the person who has clear systems, enjoys managing teams and has a clear view on how to create content from a podcast production perspective. Ideally you’re working with businesses with a budget for a producer who can stay on retainer.
- Podcast Editing-It takes up SO MUCH TIME. Be the fantastic podcast editor that we’re all looking for. Ideally you’re looking for someone who has been creating content for awhile and truly understands how valuable having editing support could be and the time that it saves a podcast creator.
- Podcast Coaching-You need to like people to do this and have a demonstrated expertise that people are willing to spend money on. I’m not necessarily talking about group coaching. You could offer 1-on-1 sessions as well.
The Middle
Here are some monetization strategies that may take a little longer to grow out but could be incredibly impactful in the long-term
- Create a newsletter-I love running my Podcasters Getting Paid newsletter. One of the cool things about it is growing free and paid subscribers. What many people forget is that you can offer products to the free subscribers as well and monetize both segments of your newsletter. But, be aware that a very small segment of your list will become paying subscribers-so, it takes awhile to grow a newsletter.
- Editing services-I’m specifically talking about written content. You have to put in some time before you’re knowledgable enough to provide editing services OR work with an organization that will train you.
- Affiliate Marketing-I absolutely love affiliate marketing. But, it can take awhile to grow your affiliate revenue.
- Host an event-Events can be really stressful to host but you can earn income from them. Are you selling tickets, getting sponsors, offering swag.
- Design and Sell a course-Course sales are a great way to grow scaleable income and help several people at the same time.
Long-Term Monetization Strategies
- Ad revenue-If you have a website (and you SHOULD) associated with your podcast it’s possible to grow ad revenue on your website. It’s a long-term push and a focused strategy but a great way to bring in what turns into “passive income” in the long-run.
- Win a grant-You have to apply to a number of grants before you win one, but when you do it’s a glorious feeling!
- Crowdfund-Sometimes your community is the best way to raise funds for your project. Crowdfunding is an incredible way to do it. But, if you crowdfund you’ll need a strategy, a lot of time for follow ups and the right platform to host your crowdfunding campaign.
- Grow a membership community-I almost put this one in The Middle tier, but I think to really see revenue from a membership community you have to become known in a space, grow connections and then work a plan which is why I added this as a long-term strategy.
- Become KNOWN for solving a specific problem-Basically, become a thought leader in a space. If you’re this person then you have a number of different ways that you’re likely monetizing your brand.
What I want to point out is that these 15 strategies aren’t ads, you can begin working on them now and they are great ways to bring in revenue into your podcasting brand without having ads in your content. There is more than one way to do something and monetizing a podcast platform can happen in a number of different ways.