How to Sell your Services to Make Money Podcasting
'How do podcasts make money?' is a question that crosses every host's mind. Whether you're new to the podcasting game or have well-established roots in the world of audio entertainment, finding a way to make money podcasting is normally one of the goals.
Be it through direct or indirect monetization, there are numerous strategies for producing a steady stream of revenue through podcasting. In this article, we dive into a few podcast monetization techniques for leveraging your show to sell services.
✴ Putting Your Back-Catalog Behind a Paywall
One of the simplest ways to sell your existing library of content is to offer exclusive access to paying listeners. This strategy works best if your podcast already has an impressive catalog of older episodes.
Rather than producing new content to drive revenue, you can add a paywall to your earlier episodes and begin to generate a passive income. Dan Carlin's Hardcore History does an exceptional job of this, with the podcast's most recent episodes available for free and the older content costing as little as $1.99 per download.
✴ Sell Repurposed Content
A quick way to create sellable content is to repurpose episodes you've already produced. Not only does this reduce the time to release, but also limits the strain on your resources.
You could consider selecting a few of your top-performing podcast episodes related to the same subject or niche audience, and packaging them into something that offers value to your followers.
✴ Public Forums and Fan Meet-ups
In reality, public speaking is a slightly easier transition for podcast hosts than it might be for the average person. Being confident enough to speak on your show will help you feel more comfortable in an in-person setting.
The amount you could potentially earn through speaker fees can vary. As to be expected, you will likely have less people in attendance at your gatherings when first starting out, but as your brand, popularity, and PR skills grow, you’ll see your numbers and earning potential gradually increase.
✴ Sell an Online Course
If your podcast is designed to educate or inform your audience, offering a comprehensive online course is a great way to make money podcasting.
If you do decide that online courses are the best monetization strategy for you, it could be worth your while to use a third-party service like Udemy or Skillshare the first time round. While this will require you to pay out more initially, it'll save you countless hours developing every element from the ground up yourself.
✴ Selling Podcasting Resources
Selling podcasting resources is another way to make money podcasting. You’ve undoubtedly learned a great deal through the establishment of your own podcast and just simply need to present your resources in a clear and detailed manner that makes it easy for even novices to follow.
You have the added benefit of being able to promote these resources on your show. You can also interact with customers to get their opinions about what you have on offer, which will give you more insight into their needs and allow you to make any necessary adjustments to boost sales.
✴ Offer Consulting Services
Hosting a podcast allows you to establish yourself as an expert within your niche. When you get it right, your dedicated listeners will start looking at you as an authority.
By offering consulting services to people in your target market, you can monetize the expertise you've acquired over the course of your career. For example, a real estate podcast might offer guidance on the best time to buy or sell a home. A gardening podcast might sell workshops to optimize plant yield.
Setting this up can be as simple as adding a form to your website landing page that allows people to sign up for a specific service. The services themselves can then be delivered in a variety of formats, including phone calls, video calls or face to face. It's all comes down to your clients’ needs.
✴ When Should You Think About Selling Your Services?
Deciding on the best time to start selling your services can be tricky business. You need to account for audience engagement and average listener numbers. If you have a dedicated and stable fan-base that trusts in your industry expertise, it could be the perfect opportunity to start considering some of the strategies above.
Most methods of selling your services won’t need anything more than your time to set up. As such, it's generally an effective, hassle-free way to make money podcasting.
For a deeper insight into how to monetize your podcast, check out our growth guide here.
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