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Can You Make Money With Your Podcast? – Episode 199

Are you like most podcasters who contact me for help? Are you trying to make money with your podcast?

When podcasters reach out to me for my complimentary podcast review and strategy session, I ask them a few questions to see where I might be able to help most. One of those questions asks about the biggest struggle they are facing.

I recently went through all of the questionnaires looking for commonalities. The struggle mentioned most often had something to do with making money with their podcast.

WHAT ARE YOU SELLING?

It reminds me of listening to a presentation by Brendon Burchard. He was describing a session at his Experts Academy. One of the speakers asked the audience, “How many of you have a website?” He then asked how many wanted to make money with that website. Finally, he asked, “How many of you have something to sell?” The room went quiet.

That is the typical problem with podcasts. People want to make money with their podcast, but few have anything to sell.

You can download 6 idea starters to make money with your show here:

DOWNLOAD: 6 MONEY-MAKING IDEAS FOR YOUR PODCAST

BIGGER IDEAS

First, you need to understand that sponsorships and ads within your show will not be your answer.

In order to make serious money with sponsorships, you need a pretty sizable audience. Most podcasters are not in this stratosphere.

You may not want to earn a living with your podcast. Maybe you simply want to cover the costs of podcasting – that break even point.

Whether you want to turn your show into your career or simply want to cover the costs, these ideas can help get you there.

Let’s look at the facts. You have a podcast that is free to listeners. How can we take something that is free to consume and convert that into some revenue?

LEVERAGE ATTENTION

There are many ways to take the attention you are generating and leveraging that attention to make money. The first step is the gain the attention.

You don’t need to have hundreds of thousands of listeners. You simply need to have passionate listeners that want more of what you share.

Are you teaching your listeners? Are you providing them with tools and information they can use? Are you interviewing interesting people that share great information that might be stretched into something more?

You can use a lot of these ideas to leverage your audience.

I was on a coaching call last week with a podcaster struggling with making money. She has a podcast where she talk about healthy diets and how people can eat better. She loves teaching, talking in front of people and giving presentations.

We talked a lot about the people who reach out to her for advice. Many of these people had similar questions and similar struggles.

After we peeled the onion and discovered a few different layers, we determined she could start small group coaching to generate a few hundred dollars a month.

When people think of coaching, they think of some intricate system to market the program, bill the participants, and conduct the training.

I suggested she send an e-mail to the few hundred people on her list. If she could find 5 people willing to pay her $97 per month for group coaching, she could earn $485 per month.

In the e-mail, she could simply say, “I am starting a small group that I will coach each week providing A, B and C. We will get on a call each week to discuss it, answer questions and help with struggles. Participation will be limited to 5 people and cost $97 per month. If you are interested, reply to this e-mail.”

When the people respond, have them send you $97 via PayPal. Then, set up a private group call on Google Hangouts, Zoom or the free platform of your choice.

At the end of the month, you ask, “Who want to go again?” Sign them up and recruit more with your e-mail list.

You only need 5 people and you’re making money each month.

 

BUSINESS MODELS

That is just one example of using a model called “Give away products, sell services”. She is giving away recipes, spreadsheet tools and other .pdfs. Then, she sells her services.

1. Podcast example: Giveaway lead magnets, sell individual coaching

2. Podcast example: Giveaway podcast info, sell webinars and seminars

 

Give away services, sell products

3. Podcast example: Your podcast explains how to set up and use products and then sells those products online

4. Podcast example: Your podcast provides content and information, sell books, CDs and DVDs about that information

 

GET MORE

If you want the list of 6 money-making models, download the list here.

DOWNLOAD: 6 MONEY-MAKING IDEAS FOR YOUR PODCAST

Do you have a few hundred people listening to your show? Have you started gathering their e-mail addresses using an e-mail service?

Let’s get started. If you want to make money with your podcast, you must have something to sell.

Money doesn’t fall off of the money tree. You need to leverage your audience and give them an opportunity to get even more value from you.

 

Would you like me to help you create some ideas? You can get a “no obligation” strategy session with me. Head over to PodcastTalentCoach.com/coaching for the details. I would love to see what we can do.

PodcastTalentCoach.com/coachingis where you will find the info. It is a free 30-minute call with me to review your process and help you develop a plan to overcome your struggles. I’d love to chat. Check it out right now.

You can find my podcast and other tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com.

Let’s turn your information into engaging entertainment.