Podcast Guide: How Do Podcasts Make Money?

Starting a podcast can be a rewarding experience that teaches a variety of skills. It also provides an opportunity to generate income.

Not everyone, though, understands the different ways a podcast can be used to bring in cash.

So, how do podcasts make money? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

Let’s take a look at everything you need to know.

Advertising + Sponsorships

One of the most common and lucrative ways that you can make money from your podcast is by taking advantage of advertising and sponsorship opportunities. As your audience grows, you’ll find that more and more companies will be willing to pay for you to talk about their product or service.

While the amount that you make will directly correlate with how much time you spend promoting their products, it could prove to be a significant amount on average for those with large audiences. 

Services

As you gain experience in producing your own podcast, it’s not unlikely for people to approach you and ask for advice.

This is especially true for people who don’t know how to make money from podcast content and need assistance in doing so.

For example, they may need help getting their podcast up and running in its early stages, or they may want you to critique and analyze their existing content to determine what they need to do differently.

As your following develops, you’ll passively gain more notoriety in your niche. This will establish a level of credibility that you wouldn’t be able to otherwise.

At higher levels, it’s not uncommon for people to hire you for consulting or coaching services related to your niche. If your podcast focuses on health and fitness, for instance, you can offer a personalized training routine to your listeners.

Features

Depending on the content of your podcast, this may or may not be a notable option. For industries where exposure can easily catapult someone’s career to the next level (such as music), offering paid feature spots on your podcast is a great way to generate additional revenue.

You’ll also have the added benefit of building your own audience if you interview or have a discussion with a high-profile celebrity. People who want to learn more about the celebrity have a fairly high chance of discovering your podcast with them, which could result in them exploring the rest of your content.

As previously mentioned, your value is often tied to the size of your audience. So, you can’t expect to have big names on your podcast in the beginning unless you have a personal contact who can help you do so. 

So, your features during the early stages of your development will likely be of people with similar notoriety, and you may not be able to monetize this option until your audience grows further.  

Products

It’s also possible to leverage your audience to sell your own products. This gives you far more creative control, allows you to keep all of the profits, and provide the opportunity to tailor the products to the exact needs of your audience.

Using the aforementioned health and fitness podcast example, you would be able to sell your own brand of athletic apparel if you chose to do so. The same can be said for fitness-related accessories, supplements as long as they are FDA-approved, etc.

Most commonly, though, those who have their own podcast to choose to sell merchandise like T-shirts, coffee mugs, and other similar items. These are simple to create, at a low cost, and offer plenty of room for personalization.

So, these options shouldn’t be neglected when determining what type of products to sell.

Public Speaking Events

It’s nearly impossible to build a large following for your podcast without becoming an excellent public speaker. But, some podcast hosts may need to work on becoming more comfortable when speaking to a live audience in person.

However, this generally won’t affect your initial chances of getting offers.

Since large podcast names are likely to easily draw attention for events, they’re frequently booked as guest speakers conferences, conventions, and other similar occurrences.

At the higher end of the spectrum, you’ll likely be able to net six figures just from making an appearance and speaking at a high-profile event.

As with hosting features, this will allow you to drastically increase the audience of your own podcast through the sheer amount of exposure you’ll get.

For those who would like to take the step even further, it’s also possible to host your own event for your public speaking.

Collaborations

This function similarly to interviewing another person on your podcast. But, it involves working with other podcasters in your niche.

Having a joint discussion on relevant topics is often a scenario that many people in your audience will highly enjoy. This is especially true for people who are fans of both podcasters involved.

As you may expect, you’ll be able to leverage the other person’s audience to grow your own following. But, you’ll also develop a strong relationship with another professional in your industry that you can use in the future for advice, additional collaborations, or business ventures. 

Understanding ‘How Do Podcasts Make Money’ Can Seem Difficult 

But it doesn’t have to be.

With the above information about ‘how do podcasts make money’ in mind, you’ll be well on your way toward taking the necessary steps to maximize your revenue.

Want to learn more tips that can help you out in the future? Be sure to check out the rest of our blog.