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6 Reasons Podcasts Don’t Make Money – Episode 215
You have tried to make money with your podcast, but nothing seems to be working. You have searched the internet and see many with the same question. Many people ask, but few have any real concrete answers.
The gurus make it sound so easy. Launch a podcast, create a course, sell it to your audience and vacation in the Bahamas while working your four-hour workweek. What else could there be?
There are a few reasons you are not making money with your podcast. Your audience size probably isn’t one of those reasons.
You don’t have anything to sell
When podcasters contact me for coaching, our first step is a FREE podcast strategy session. During that call, we define goals and the strategy to achieve those goals.
Podcasters will tell me they want to drive engagement and increase downloads. It could be they want to improve their interviewing skills. I might hear, “How can I streamline my workflow?”
Though the questions vary, one seems to consistently come up. “How can I make money with my podcast?” I ask, “What are you selling?”
I will usually get, “Well, I thought about sponsorships. I am working on building a course. I have a book in the works.”
“Can your listeners currently give you money for anything?”
The conversation is quiet. And there lies the problem.
If you are not making money with your podcast, it may be because you have nothing to sell. Yes, a donation button might get you a few nice gestures. It usually won’t pay the bills longterm.
Find one thing you can create that will really serve your ideal listener. This could be coaching, a course, a workshop, or something else that will add value. Ask your audience what they need. Then, focus on one thing until you sell it.
Don’t make it too complicated. Test the idea until is sells. Then, ramp up. Either way, make it valuable and available as soon as you can.
You are not asking for the sale
“Yeah, Erik. I have a course for sale. Nobody is buying it.”
Have you told anyone about it?
One of my buddies has a great course available. I had known him for six months before I knew anything about it.
One day, I asked him why he doesn’t talk about it on the show. He told me, “It has been available for over a year. Everyone knows about it already. I don’t want my listeners to think I am only here to sell them stuff.”
I get it that you don’t want to be high pressure sales. However, if they don’t know you have something for sale, how do you expect them to buy it?
About six months ago, I sent out a survey. One of the questions was, “Why haven’t you taken advantage of my free Podcast Strategy Session?” One respondent said, “I didn’t know it existed.”
Now, I reference my free coaching session in nearly every show. It is incorporated into my content. But there will always be someone who doesn’t know it is available.
If you want to make money with your podcast, you need to ask for the sale.
You don’t seek to help first
You may not be making money with your podcast, because you are not seeking to help your audience before you try to sell them.
If you are concerned about talking about your product or service too much, make sure you are actually serving your listener. Have a good heart. Help your listeners succeed.
When you are offering something of value to your listener that will truly help them overcome some pain or benefit in some way, the guilt of selling should go away. It transforms from selling to helping. Your listener is simply giving you the value of money for the value of your solution.
Let’s say your car won’t start. You take it to the mechanic to fix it. He puts a new starter in it for a reasonable price. Do you feel like he put the hard sell on you to get you to buy a new starter? No. He fixed your car and solved your transportation problem.
Approach your show with the heart of a teacher. Help your listeners win. When your product or service is a tool to facilitate that success, you won’t come across as the hard sell. You will be just the help they are looking for.
Haven’t uncovered the true pain
It is much easier to “not sell” when you are solving a pain rather than offering a benefit. There is a saying that “more people buy aspirin than vitamins.” People are more willing to pay to get out of pain than experience a pleasure.
When you are solving that pain, you need to ensure you have uncovered the true pain.
For instance, someone might say they would like to learn how to start a business. If you explore their goals, you might discover she is really looking for independence from the 9-to-5 grind in order to have more control of her life.
A little more examination might reveal that she has two kids and would really like the time to homeschool them. A business that allows her to control her time would help her spend time with her kids.
How to start a business looks like the pain on the surface. Spending more time with her children is really the true pain. By knowing this, you can better frame your content, products and services. You may sell the same thing while the marketing of the thing changes to fit the pain.
Haven’t explained the benefit and transformation
You may not be making money with your podcast, because your listeners don’t want or value what you are selling.
This doesn’t mean what you sell is not good. It means that listeners don’t fully understand the benefit of your stuff or the transformation they will experience by using your product or service.
People do not buy products and services. They buy what the products and services can do for them. They are not buying the flour, sugar and frosting. They are buying the joy of eating the cake and celebrating their event.
People are not buying your service. They are buying the transformation they will experience. A person does not buy the privilege of attending a gym. They buy the weight loss transformation they will experience.
Where do you take your listeners? Make sure you can clearly explain it to them.
You haven’t established trust
Once you have explained the transformation, be sure your listeners believe you. A reason you may not be making money with your podcast is the lack of trust.
People do business with those they know, like and trust. Be consistent in delivering on your promises over time to build trust with your listeners.
This will not be an overnight process. It will take time. Serve them well every chance you get. Eventually, you will earn their trust. They will believe you can help them. They will get to the point of doing business with you.
If you cannot figure out why you are not making money with your podcast, check these six areas. Make sure you actually have something to sell. Ask for the sale. Always seek to serve first. Uncover the true pain. Be sure you are clearly explaining the transformation. Finally, work to establish trust over time.
If you would like my help defining your goals and determining the area where your revenue plan is struggling, let’s chat. Sign up for my FREE podcast strategy session at PodcastTalentCoach.com/coaching. Let’s see what we can do.
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.