Hey savvies! Welcome back to another episode of Savvy Podcasting for Entrepreneurs. 

In last week’s episode, I shared what to do before you start monetizing your podcast, so this week we’re actually diving into the different ways to monetize your podcast to round out this mini monetization series on the podcast

I’d love to know on Instagram (@jennysuneson) if you enjoyed this little mini-series and would like more mini-series like this on the podcast. I’m always open for suggestions so if you enjoyed this series and would like for me to do more, then shoot me a DM on Instagram and let me know what other mini-series about podcasting that you’d be interested in.

Also, some of you may have noticed that we got some new cover art. The pink and grey have been with the Savvy podcast brand since its inception in 2018 but I wanted to switch things up a bit so I decided to change the colors to my green and navy colors – which are the same as my personal brand colors and also add a photo of myself because I wanted to practice what I preach to my clients when it comes to cover art.

Before we dive in, I wanted to mention my free masterclass – how to make money from your podcast without relying on ad sponsorships because ad sponsorships AREN’T the only way to monetize your podcast as you’ll learn in this episode.

If you want to learn more about how to monetize without ad sponsorships, head here and snag your seat today. 

  • First up we have affiliate marketing. So affiliate marketing is a great way to get your feet wet with monetization because there’s really no pressure to make sales here since it’s not a binding agreement with a company but it is great if you’re able to make those sales and make a little money from the products you endorse to your listeners.
  • You can be an affiliate for everyday products that you love or even for other people’s products and services like digital courses, eBooks, or even their services in some cases.
  • Affiliates for everyday products usually payout between 2-15% per sale while affiliates for digital products usually payout between 20-50% per sale so if you have an audience of buyers and you can vouch for these specific products or services, then this could be a great way to start generating some income from your podcast.
  • As we all know, ad sponsorships are definitely not my favorite way to monetize as it is not something you can typically make a ton of money from but in an episode about podcast monetization, I had to mention it.
  • Ad sponsorships typically don’t pay too much (think $15-25 per episode in most cases) unless you have high downloads and/or a super niche audience so if you expect to make your full-time income with ad sponsorships on your podcast, it’s definitely possible in some cases but it’s not as common as you may think.
  • People who do really well with ad sponsorships are those like Crime Junkie, Joe Rogan, etc. because they have the big downloads to show the sponsors, and sponsors are likely already showing up in their inbox knowing that.
  • Selling your own products or services is my all-time favorite way to monetize, as I’m sure y’all already know. This allows you to make more profit in your business instead of making money for other companies and only getting paid a small fraction of what you deserve.
  • Selling merch is similar to selling your own products and services but when I say merch, I more so mean more. Merch that goes along with your show so think apparel, mugs, and other accessories that are specifically branded to your show. This is not something that I have at this time but I do have a client with merch that she successfully sells on her show.
  • As an entrepreneur, I believe that it’s important to have several streams of income so if you have the bandwidth to create and sell merch that goes along with your show and people seem interested in it, then this could be a fun avenue to explore.
  • Having different membership tiers is another way to make money from your show. With this method, you will have to create additional content each month for your subscribers who upgrade to become a paid subscribers so that is something to keep in mind.
  • A good example of this is Crime Junkie’s upgrade. They have 3 different Patreon tiers where you can get access to bonus episodes, early access to their merch and event tickets, AMAs, and audio extras on their $5/month tier and the other two tiers build upon the first one with even more bonuses. If you already have a loyal audience and can commit to putting out more content for your Patreon supporters each month, then this may be a great option for you.
  • Next week we’ll be chatting about the 4 ways to monetize your podcast so stay tuned.
  • Make sure to join me for Podcasting Happy Hour on Wednesdays at 7:30 pm CST // 8:30 pm EST on Clubhouse. If you guys want to join me head on over to the CH app and follow me @jennysuneson and turn on notifications so you get notified when I go live and we can chat every Wednesday evening on ClubHouse. I can’t wait to see you there.

And if you’re struggling with even knowing where to begin with podcasting, I can help. Head here and book your free call with me today. I can’t wait to hear from you! 

Make sure to join the Savvy Podcasting for Entrepreneurs FB group if you haven’t already. It is such a great place to build connections with other podcasters who are in the same boat as you.