Her plea for help broke my heart. Because she wasn’t the first person to reach out frustrated at her inability to monetise her podcast. And I knew she wouldn’t be the last. Here’s what I told her…
Monetising your podcast based on mainstream media tactics (i.e. sponsorships) – won’t work.
Especially for a start-up podcast, with NO listenership or database. [Or when the host hasn’t yet built their reputation in their space, which was the case with this new podcast host].
Podcast listeners are a highly niched audience.
They subscribe because they resonate with the podcast host and the topics being discussed.
There’s a level of trust that’s built over time with the host – trust you don’t want to break by incorporating interruption-style advertisements into your show.
Instead, your podcast’s message should align with your business message; your audience should be your ideal client; and the topics should speak into the challenges AND solutions relevant for your ideal client.
Because as you continue to build trust , you can leverage your podcast to nurture your listener along their buyer’s journey, so that listener becomes a lead, then an enquiry, and then a customer.
That’s how you monetise your podcast.
Here are 7 Podcasting Principles to show you how:
- Podcasting Principle 1: The RIGHT Podcast Strategy begins with the END IN MIND
> Specific to YOUR desired outcomes and unique circumstances AND aligned with your business focus/model
- Podcasting Principle 2: Create FANS NOT Followers
> Fans are passionate advocates who will refer, recommend and even do business with you. Followers won’t
- Podcasting Principle 3: Focus on building ‘Reputation Equity’ NOT vanity-based metrics
> Monetise your OWN message first and not someone else’s (i.e. sponsors/affiliates) - Podcasting Principle 4: Invest in refining your message BEFORE you invest in a microphone
> A message that’s niched, relevant to your ideal customers challenges and desires, and nurtures them along the Buyer’s Journey - Podcasting Principle 5: Learn compelling communication techniques
> That captures and cultivates a highly engaged audience of FANS and compels them to take that next step
- Podcasting Principle 6: Create that distinguishable experience and expectation
> Across ALL your podcast creatives from your podcast name, music, intro/outro, topic headline
- Podcasting Principle 7: Establish a robust list-building and compelling ‘seed and lead’ initiatives
> To nurture listeners into leads, enquiries and customers from your very first episode
