Why would someone pay to listen to your Podcast?

No one will. Especially when listeners can get it for free on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

So how exactly will you make money from your Podcast? That’s exactly what I’m about to cover in this blog. You will learn about indirect monetization methods and how they can help generate a six-figure income.

So let’s dive right in.

Promoting Affiliate Products

Becoming an affiliate means you get to promote a product or service, owned by someone else, and get a commission on making a sale.

For example : I am an affiliate of BuzzSprout and every time someone makes a purchase through my affiliate link, Buzzsprout pays me a 30% commission on the purchase.

But how do you promote a product or service on your Podcast? Let’s look at a few ways.

• Episode Intros
• Episode Outros
• Show Notes

If you’re planning on promoting an affiliate product in your Episode intro or outro, make sure you have a script ready for it. Here’s what you can include in your script :

• What is it?
• How will it help your listeners? [Benefits]
• How does it help you? [optional]

You’ll usually get an affiliate link from the product creator. When someone clicks your link and makes a purchase, you make a commission.

So if you’re planning to promote the affiliate product in your show notes, make sure you include your affiliate link. And remember to write a proper disclosure for the affiliate products.

[Note : Most affiliate links look ugly. Try cloaking them or shortening them.]

Moving on, let’s look at the next monetization method.

Getting Paid by Sponsors

These are brands, businesses or individuals who pay you to promote them or their products. But unlike affiliates, you decide how much you want to get paid.

Since they chose your Podcast and approached you, you get to charge your desired rate.

As simple as it sounds, it’s not. Guess why? Such brands or businesses won’t approach unless your Podcast’s pretty popular or has a lot of listeners.

So make sure you grind your Podcasting journey and attract sponsorships.

But if you feel that the brand doesn’t align with your Podcast topic or would not help your listeners in any way, please reject such offers. Your Podcast listeners come first. Losing them would be disastrous.

Next, let’s look at how Support Links are a great monetization model.

Receiving Donations throught Support Links

These are links provided by certain platforms which let people tip you. Usually, if a listener finds your Podcast impactful and valuable, they won’t hesitate to tip you.

First, let’s look at 4 popular platforms that let people tip you.

• Patreon
• BuyMeACoffee
• Podfan
• PayPal

Usually, your Podcast hosting service will include support links as one of their monetization options. Sign up with either of the platforms and start receiving donations from listeners.

[Note : You will find support links alongside the social icons on the Podcast Player]

Building an Email List

Do you know where the most money is made today? You guessed it. Your Email list.

Getting listeners on your Email List is the best decision you can take for your Podcast. I guarantee it. Let’s at the major reason behind it.

When you acquire emails and build a list, you get full control over the kind of content you can send listeners. This includes promoting paid offers or running sponsor ads.

The possibilities of making money with email marketing are limitless. But make sure you nurture your listeners with free content first.

For simplicity’s sake, you can just send pre-release emails of your Podcast episodes. Let people know the topic you’re covering and why they should be interested.

As you’ve realised by now, there’s an entire system of moneization you can run alongside your Podcast, just with emails.

Hook your listeners with a lead magnet in your episode show notes and collect their emails.

Moving on, let’s look at Your monetization offer model.

Promoting Personal Offers

I can’t complete monetization models without talking about personal offers. While I’ve covered a tiny portion of this in the email list section, I’ll cover it here in detail.

Personal offers refer to your products, programs, workshops, digital products or services build solely by you. And there’s no greater opportunity than promoting them on your Podcast.

The methods of promotion are similar to the ones listed in the affiliate section — intro, outro or show notes.

Don’t forget to help listeners understand why they should opt for your product or service. And always offer them a freebie, then put them through a funnel for paid promotions.

A direct paid offer on the face might result in losing listeners.

What Next?

Finally, don’t overdo any of the monetization models I’ve discussed in this above. You don’t want to disappoint listeners at any cost.

Nurture them by creating a free community and taking their opinions on your episode topics. Make them feel cared for.

Summarizing, here’s a list of all 4 Podcast monetization models.

• Promoting Affiliate Products
• Getting Paid by Sponsors
• Receiving Donations through Support Links
• Building an Email List
• Promoting Personal Offers

Passing it over to you now.

Which method are you planning to try out first? Promoting affiliates or building an email list? or some other one from the list.

Either way, let me know by dropping a comment.

PS — Check out my Podcast Agency if you need help with Launching & Editing your Podcast.