How would you like to make money with your podcast? If you’re doing podcasts, the potential to generate income from your podcast is an added benefit for you as a podcaster.
As a podcaster, you don’t have to worry about big overhead and the income generated through your podcast will mostly be profit.
There are three main ways that you can make money from your podcast.
1. Generate income through commercial sponsors
One of the best ways to generate income for your podcast is through commercial sponsorship of your show. If you can get a major sponsor, you can generate some great revenue for your podcast. As time goes by, major companies are beginning to recognize the true importance of podcasts.
Two moms, Paige and Gretchen, from Virginia understand the importance of business sponsorships. They host a weekly show called MommyCast that focuses on mothers. Paige is a mother of 5 and Gretchen is a mother of 2.
They have secured two main sponsors for their show, Earthlink and Dixie. As a result, they are earning substantial income from the commercial sponsorship of their show alone. When you started podcasting, you probably had no idea how popular your show would become. However, Earthlink and Dixie recognized the impact of their program and decided to become sponsors. http://www.mommycast.com/
If two Virginia moms can do this, anyone can achieve the same goal. It doesn’t matter where you live or what you’re talking about. If you can build a substantial listening audience, your chances of getting major sponsors for your podcast will increase.
Commercially sponsoring your podcast is a great way to generate a great source of income. If you are able to get a great sponsor, this could generate some great income for you as a podcaster.
When two major corporations like Earthlink and Dixie recognize podcasting as a way to reach potential customers, this is great news for all podcasters. When a title sponsor advertises on traditional radio, the radio station’s signal is limited by wattage to a specific geographic region. However, with podcasting, there is no geographic limitation. Anyone in the world with a computer or mp3 player can potentially listen to the show. So this is a great selling point for potential sponsors.
2. Earn money with donations
Another way to generate income with your podcast is with donations. For example, Adam Kempenaar and Sam Hallgren host a bi-weekly movie podcast from Chicago called Cinecast. They review different movies and give their opinions. His podcast is becoming very popular and continues to grow by the day. http://www.cinecast.com/
If you visit iTunes, you’ll see that they appear as a featured podcast in your podcast directory. This is a huge advantage for Cinecast. http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/
Adam and Sam have decided to make money by soliciting donations for their podcast. When you go to your website, you’ll see a button for PayPay where listeners can make a donation to your podcast. PayPal has a positive reputation and offers a great way to accept donations.
If you provide your listener with valuable information, they will appreciate your efforts and be more likely to make a donation. However, over time, Cinecast will probably be able to acquire national sponsors.
When you start podcasting, donations are a great way to generate income as your audience grows.
3. Earn money from your website or blog
The third way you can make money from your podcast is with ads on your website or blog. Google AdSense is one way to achieve this goal. AdSense places ads on your website and when someone clicks on the ads, you get paid. https://www.google.com/adsense/
Another way to earn money with your website or blog is by promoting different products through Clickbank. ClickBank offers over 10,000 products that you can promote as an affiliate. It’s free to sign up as an affiliate with ClickBank and you earn money every time someone buys a product through links displayed on your site. http://clickbank.com/
The key element to generating income is making your podcast stand out. The best way to achieve this goal is to list your podcast on iTunes and also list it on other podcast directories. You need to let people know that you are out there so that you can get a large audience. Over time, as your audience grows, so will the potential for commercial sponsors.