Editor’s note: This article was first published in May 2018, and its description of podcast monetisation, including references to ‘until now’ and ‘recent months’, reflects that time; platforms and revenue-sharing programmes have changed a lot since.
Although podcasts promise to “eat” radio, until now there was no direct way to make money from them. That has changed in recent months. Today we look at all the options for monetising a podcast and the most profitable platforms for turning podcasting into your profession.
But let’s start with the basics.
What is a podcast?
By definition, a podcast is a digital audio (or video) publication that can be downloaded from the internet or listened to online. Put more simply, it is like a radio programme, but one you can tailor to yourself. The name comes from “iPod” and “broadcast”, because at first podcasts were only listened to on iPods through iTunes. Today you can listen to them on countless platforms, websites, blogs and so on.
What is the most important factor in making money with a podcast?
As with most content on the internet, such as a blog or YouTube itself, when it comes to generating money the most important things are, first of all, plays (visits) and subscribers. However good your content is, if nobody listens to it, you don’t make money. That is only logical. Of course, to get subscribers, the content has to be good and interesting.
See also: 3 easy ways to make money online
How can you make money with podcasts?
Let’s say there are two ways to make money from podcasting: the direct way and the indirect way.
1. The indirect way
Until recently, this was the only option. The biggest benefit of podcasting was building a legion of subscribers who saw you as an expert in your field. Once you reached that point, those listeners could also be your best potential customers for a service or product of your own.
The problem was that if you didn’t sell anything or had no service to offer, you would make no money even with a million subscribers to your podcast.
Sponsorships
Then sponsorships arrived. As on other internet channels, you could make money by advertising third-party products, talking about a company. In other words, the closest thing to commercial spots on the radio.
Donations
When something is interesting, donations are an option you cannot ignore. People are willing to donate if they want to keep receiving interesting content.
Premium content
As on other channels, you can offer special content to special users. You can even create a private podcast just for listeners who have a paid-only subscription.
Tim Ferriss has one of the most famous and profitable podcasts, called The Tim Ferriss Show.
2. The direct way
Without forgetting everything mentioned above, these days the process of making money with a podcast has become easier.
Some platforms now have their own programmes for sharing advertising revenue. In other words, just like YouTube, in the case of Ivoox they offer the option of monetising your podcast directly and sharing their advertising income, both from banner ads and from the audio spots they insert into your podcast.
Like YouTube, they have made the process automatic: Ivoox, currently the largest podcasting platform, offers the chance to share revenue from the plays and downloads of your podcasts.
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It also offers subscriptions for fans
Just as YouTube does, fans can get extra perks if they pay a fee. For example, they can enjoy the podcast without ads or get it before everyone else. In fact, you decide what you want to offer those premium fans. You even decide the monthly subscription fee.
As we can see, there are plenty of options for monetising a podcast and making podcasting your profession. That said, outside the United States podcasts are still very much in their infancy and don’t have the appeal they enjoy on the other side of the Atlantic. Even so, as we said at the beginning of the article, they are very likely to be the radio of the future.
So if you have something important to say and pass on, start carving out a place for yourself in this market.
This article is part of our series on ways to earn extra money from home, where we review all the options for generating income.
See also: 5 business ideas to earn 5,000 euros with your computer
Featured image: Stephan Ridgway from Sydney, Australia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
