Sponsorships are the lifeblood of a podcast. If you want to turn your hobby into a business, you’ll need to secure financial longevity by getting some sponsors behind you.
Monetizing Your Podcast
Here are just a few of the ways podcasters make a living at their craft:
- Sponsorships
Sponsors are looking to advertise their products/services and increase their brand awareness. Potential sponsors want to cultivate relationships to advance their organization – and yours. They do this by collaborating with content creators and influencers who align with their brand’s persona. And, of course, your audiences should be compatible, too! Quarterly, monthly and weekly sponsorships are great ways for your podcast to grow.
- Membership
You don’t have to just rely on sponsorships to pay your podcast’s bills; there are other ways to earn, and one of those is through patronage. Many podcasts offer special perks to their members, including newsletters, early access to content, ad-free material, and a more personal connection to you, the podcast creator. If you think this option might be up your alley, you can offer monthly, quarterly, or yearly memberships.
- Branded Products
How about selling your own products? This is a great way to earn money and continue to self-promote as your products will be on display for the world to see. However, this can also be a bit of a sticky wicket: you have to have money to invest in branded products, and there has to be demand for the products you’re selling.
- Ad Placement
How do you incorporate your sponsorships into your podcast? There are three main ways to do this: pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll. The ‘roll’ is the meat of your podcast, so the pre-roll is a 15-second spot before the main segment of your episode, the mid-roll is usually 30 seconds somewhere in the middle, and the post-roll is a 15-30 second spot towards the end of the podcast, typically paired with a call to action.
You’ll want to negotiate which spots your sponsor wants to advertise on. We usually recommend only having two ad spots per episode: any more, and your listeners can start to get irritated and bored, but any less, and you won’t be fulfilling the sponsor’s demands.
Done-For-You Podcasting Tools
At Podcast Recipe, we do more than just coach you on your podcast launch. We work alongside you with done-for-you essential podcasting services, from icon graphic design, RSS host set up and publishing, marketing, and launch planning. Together, we’ll make sure that your podcast launch is a HIT.
Reach out today to learn more.
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