You have worked hard to develop some great content. The show is beginning to attract an audience. How can we turn this great podcast into a business and multiple revenue streams?
Let me give you a free resource. It is a video and accompanying checklist called “6 reasons your podcast isn’t making money”. It also includes ways to avoid those pitfalls. Visit PodcastTalentCoach.com/pitfall to get it for free.
NO ADS
First, let’s make one thing clear. As you develop your podcast, understand that it is difficult to have the show itself be your sole source of revenue. Sponsorships and donations can only take you so far. Your inventory and sources will be limited.
The commercial on a podcast is the idea that comes to mind most frequently. However, there are a few issues with commercials on your show.
First, many people are turning away from traditional radio and to podcasts to get away from the long commercial breaks. Listeners are tired of interruption marketing that really doesn’t pertain to them and sells products and services that do not interest them.
THE CEILING
Another issue with advertising on your show is your limited inventory. How much advertising can you possibly put into a show? There is a ceiling with regard to the revenue you could earn.
Commercials on your show also turns your show into a commodity. Advertising converts your listeners into price. How many listeners do you have? Let’s put that into the formula and figure out the price for your commercials.
You don’t want to be a commodity. You have something special to offer. Don’t let advertising turn your show into something similar to salt or gasoline or cotton balls.
As we have discussed before, sponsorships are a tough sell. Most traditional buyers want to buy podcast ads just like they buy radio ads. They simply are not the same.
With broadcasting, the ads are reaching a broad audience. Therefore, only a small portion of that audience will be interested in the product advertised.
An ad on a podcast, if positioned properly, should appeal to the entire audience. Therefore, it should be more valuable. Yet ad agencies expect to pay the same price as radio ads. You are fighting an uphill battle.
Making your podcast your lone revenue source is possible. However, it is limited to the biggest of the big podcasts. Most podcasters needs another revenue stream.
How do we create other revenue streams using our podcast?
REVENUE STREAMS
We need to be creative. Once we start creating some unique ideas, you will see many others begin to open for you.
In this episode, we are going to devise various opportunities to generate revenue using your free podcast. Each of these ideas uses a different approach. You can tailor each approach to your niche and passion.
The foundation of the book “Free: The Future of a Radical Price” centers on using a free product or service to create demand for a paid product or service. The concept is similar to the lead magnets you see quite often in online business.
You are producing a podcast that is free for your listeners. How can we use that free product to create demand for a paid product or service?
We are not going to cover all of the ideas in Anderson’s book. There are 50 different business models. Let’s look at a couple ideas.
Section one is called “Free 1: Direct Cross-Subsidies – Any product that entices you to pay for something else.”
This section will give us a few business models to discuss. These should give you a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing to create multiple revenue streams for your podcast.
BUSINESS MODELS
1. Give away services, sell products
Book example: Apple Store Genius Bar tech support
Podcast example: Your podcast explains how to set up and use products and then sells those products online
Podcast example: Your podcast provides content and information, sell books, CDs and DVDs about that information
2. Give away products, sell services
Book example: Free gifts when you open a bank account
Podcast example: Giveaway e-books, sell individual coaching
Podcast example: Giveaway podcast info, sell webinars and seminars
CASE STUDY & INTERVIEW
Quin Amorim generates revenue with both ideas. However, he doesn’t allow ads on his podcast at all. He joins us today to discuss his business and podcast model.
Quin Amorim in an online entrepreneur who started with drop shipping back in 1997. He has now evolved to private label brands and selling professionally online using Amazon FBA and Shopify eCommerce stores.
His first online sale was on eBay in 1997. In late 2014, Quin switched to Amazon FBA, where he has since created several brands of his own “Private Label”. He also manages several multi-million dollar accounts with his team.
The Prolific Zone is an agency that Quin founded to work with startups, professional Amazon sellers, International eCommerce companies, and supplement companies. The agency even performs product research for a couple of fortune 500 companies.
He is now the host of QA Selling Online Podcast & Fail Fast Podcast.
In this episode, Quin tells us how he uses his podcast to drive his business without allowing ads on his show. He doesn’t even promote his own agency on his show, and he will tell you why.
GENERATE REVENUE
It is difficult to have the show itself be your sole source of revenue. Sponsorships and donations can only take you so far. Your inventory and sources will be limited. Find other unique ideas to generate revenue just like Quin.
You could use your podcast to drive traffic for your Fulfilled By Amazon business. You could use a similar idea for an Ebay business or affiliate links to create revenue streams.
Grab that free resource I offered you. It is a video and checklist that contains 6 reasons your podcast isn’t making money, along with ways to avoid those pitfalls. Visit PodcastTalentCoach.com/pitfall.
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.