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

STRATEGY

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.

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 had 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.

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

If you have listened for any length of time, you know I am not a fan of relying on sponsorships or ads to generate revenue. I feel they clutter up your show. People are leaving radio and coming to podcasts to escape the ridiculous number of ads.

THE PROFIT

I cut the cable. If we are watching tv, my family now subscribes to a few streaming services.

The other night, we wanted to watch The Profit. It is the CNBC series where Marcus Lemonis finds struggling businesses to invest in.

We have always watched it on Hulu. Now it seems that the latest episode is on Hulu. The rest of the episodes are now on the NBC streaming service.

I clicked on NBC. It made me go to the website to enter the activation code. When I did that, the site wanted me to link it to my cable subscriber. I skipped that step, since I don’t have a cable subscriber.

NBC then generously gave me 3 credits to use to watch their programs. I figure after these 3 credits, it will be a pay-for-play service like the others. I get it.

While I am watching one of my 3 free episodes of the Profit, I get the same stupid commercial breaks I would get if I was watching the show on free TV.

Why do I have to sit through commercials when I am paying them a fee? I am trying to escape commercials. Needless to say, I won’t be subscribing to NBC after my 3 free credits are gone.

If people are leaving broadcast and coming to podcasting and other on-demand services to escape commercials, why would you want to clutter up your show with them and risk sending them elsewhere?

THE INTERRUPTION

Seth Godin calls it interruption marketing. Companies interrupt whatever the listener or viewer is doing with a marketing message that may or may not be appropriate or pertinent. How many Audible and Blue Apron commercials can you sit through?

The other reason you don’t want to rely on commercials is because it makes your show a commodity. Your 1,000 listeners are the same as 1,000 listeners to any other show.

Ad buyers place their ads using a CPM model. They pay a certain price per 1,000 listeners. In radio, buyers will tell us they want to come in at a particular CPM. Our 1,000 listeners are the same as every other station.

Do you want your podcast treated that way? Are listeners to another show just as passionate and valuable as your listeners? Can you live on $40 per thousand listeners?

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

Whether you want to turn your show into your career or simply want to cover the costs, I have a few ideas that can help get you there.

THE PROCESS

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?

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. We talked about building your audience in the episode last week.

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. Then, develop a product or service to sell. This way, the more you sell, the more you make. You control the output and the quality of help your listeners receive.

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?

Perfect. Turn that in to a product or service.

PROFIT IDEA

I was on a coaching call with a podcaster struggling with making money. She has a podcast where she talks 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. We will create some accountability to help you eat healthier and lose weight. 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. Don’t make it more complicated than it needs to be.

THE FRAMEWORK

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

I am putting together a new project to help you make money with your podcast. It will include a lot of examples and ideas like this.

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. I can help you do that.

THE WORKSHOP

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.

You can watch the free videos. Find them at PodcastTalentCoach.com/MoneyProject. You can learn all about the project there and get started with the free videos.

I can wait to help you make this year the year you start generating some money with your show. But, you need to take the first step. Go watch the videos at PodcastTalentCoach.com/MoneyProject. I’ll see you over there.

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

Now, understand I cannot guarantee you are going to make a million dollars. I can’t even guarantee you are going to make one dollar.

I don’t know you, your abilities and talents. I don’t know your level of commitment or how much you take action.

So, I cannot promise you that. In fact, it is against the law here in the U.S. for me to guarantee anything like that. Your results will vary.

Let’s turn your information into engaging entertainment.