How can I earn money podcasting?
What ideas are there to earn money by podcasting?
Does it cost anything to get involved in making money with podcasting? Do other people earn money from podcasting?
I already have a job; can I just earn some extra money on the side? Can I use podcasting to help me get a promotion?
How do I become a professional podcaster?
How do I use podcasting to make more money for my existing business?
What you need to know
Introduction
Money Making Tip #1 Money Making Tip #2 Money Making Tip #3 Money Making Tip #4 Money Making Tip #5 Money Making Tip #6 Money Making Tip #7 Money Making Tip #8 Money Making Tip #9 Money Making Tip #10
Take Action
Useful sites
Do it now! – for personal podcasters Do it now! – for business podcasters
Wrap up
Summary
Watch your step
The three things you need to know Stay tuned…
More than ever, the Internet has allowed people to become entrepreneurs. If you already own your own business, podcasting is an excellent way to boost business. If you do not already own your own business and are looking for a way to become an entrepreneur, there are many ways you can do so. Following are 10 ways to make money by becoming a podcaster.
Money making Tip # 1: AdvertisingOn radio, television, newspapers, or the Internet, advertising is the mainstay of marketing. Companies will pay to have their name and/or product included in the program. Radio and television first started advertising by having the show "brought to you by..." and by inserting commercials into their programming. Newspapers and the Internet have placed advertising all around their medium in banners or classifieds or display ads. Even text-based e-newsletters delivered to your email account usually have at least one advertiser buried in the text.
If you become a podcaster, you may want to consider advertising as a way to make money on your podcast. This can be done in a couple of different ways.1. Your program can be "brought to you by" the product you're being paid to advertise.
2. You can mention the advertised product or company part way through, kind of like a mini commercial, or you might say "let's pause for a brief word from our sponsor" before launching into an advertisement.
3. Or, like modern television advertising, you can "embed" advertising inside your highly informative podcast by providing good quality programming to the listener while casually mentioning a specific product or company. This has to be done very carefully, but it is quickly becoming the new form of advertising on television. For example, in response to an interview-format question from a listener who has a problem, you might say, "I had that problem too and I tried using XYZ product and found it solved the problem."
>>>TECHNICAL TERM: EMBEDDED ADVERTISINGAdvertising has long been the way marketers have moved their product or raised consumer awareness for the company. As consumers become more savvy however, advertising has had to become higher-quality or less obvious in order to be successful. If you offer free podcasts people will probably understand if you include advertising in your podcast, but make sure it's not too rampant or else the perceived value of your podcast will be lost.
An infomercial is an hour long commercial while popular sitcom Friends had a commercial-free episode with embedded advertising. Which would you rather watch? Advertising is a necessity but consumers get tired of it easily since we face so much of it every day.
You may also face a challenge as you look for advertisers for a couple of reasons: first, podcasts are available to people all over the world so a local company with one store in your town might not be interested in paying for advertising that will be heard by people on the other side of the world. Second, podcasting is such a fledgling industry that advertisers may be reluctant to pay good money for something they don't understand.
To overcome these obstacles you need to make sure that your podcast has value. And you'll probably be more successful finding an advertiser if your podcast has a niche market it serves. That way, if you were podcasting on the latest in horse racing, you are probably going to have a better time finding an advertiser than if you are simply podcasting about animals in general.
When marketing your podcast to advertisers, develop a very quick explanation of what a podcast is, then tell them what your podcast does, and how many listeners it reaches. And most importantly: tell them the benefit they will receive from advertising with you!
Money making Tip # 2: Direct MarketingAnother opportunity to make money is to offer podcasts that directly market your product. For example, General Motors offers podcasts that talk about specific makes and models of vehicles. This type of podcast is good for manufacturers who have specific products that they sell. This can be done in a couple of different ways:
1. At the end of your podcast mention the product just like you might advertise in a commercial-form for another advertiser.2. Spend your entire podcast talking about the product. This is particularly good if your product is easy to describe and talk about. If your product is a little more difficult for people to visualize in their minds, you might have a harder time accomplishing this. You might also have a tough time getting listeners to listen to this kind of podcast if it does not offer them real value.
This money making tip is very similar to the advertising tip above except that its focus is on letting you advertise your own product or service. You might want to think of it just like being at a seminar where the seminar leader provides the seminar and then mentions at the end of the seminar that additional books and tapes are available for people that want to purchase them. Again, the secret to getting listeners is to provide good value to a specific niche. You may have a hard time getting listeners with a podcast that is an hour of commercial, you'll probably have more success providing value while mentioning your product or service.
Money Making Tip #3: Indirect marketingWhat we have called "direct marketing" is basically advertising your own products or services in a podcast in the same way you might advertise for someone else. What we are calling "indirect marketing" is an increasingly popular way of doing business and that is this: do not advertise at all! At first this might seem like an unusual idea but since consumers are inundated with advertising they have become savvy at identifying it and sometimes being repelled by it.
Please note, there's nothing wrong with advertising, but it surrounds us all day long and people are desperate to find good information that does not contain advertising or have ulterior motives.Aware of this, many companies are moving to a format that has been espoused by service providers for decades. That idea is to simply provide value to people through good information which establishes you as an expert in the field without actually promoting a product. People will turn to your podcast for information, be thankful that it does not have huge amounts of commercials in advertising and product placement in it, and then they will turn to you when they need to make purchases because you're the expert in the field.
To do this well, you'll need to have your web site set up so that people can easily see your podcast but can also get to your products if they want. During your podcast you'll probably want to adopt a format of one who advises, or interviews industry experts, or analyzes and compares, as these formats will lend themselves to people looking to you for advice.
>>>SECRETS OF THE PROS! BECOME AN INDUSTRY EXPERT!And when you set yourself up as the expert, they will turn to you for products or services when they need them down the road, even though you never advertised in the first place.
Money Making Tip #4: Affiliate programs
Affiliate programs are another way to make money on podcasts. In a way they are combinations of some of the above-mentioned moneymaking tips, but instead of getting paid by an advertiser to advertise, you're getting paid when the product is sold.
>>>TECHNICAL TERM: AFFILIATE PROGRAMWith traditional affiliate advertising programs you may put affiliate links in your web site so that customers can link to another site from yours and buy a product… and you get paid for it. Affiliate marketing with podcasts is similar, but is still an unrefined and undeveloped area of the industry.
Affiliate programs are like commission-based programs. It’s like making a deal with the store owner that every time you send a customer to his or her store, the store owner will have to pay you a bit of money. The Internet version of this is pay-per-click. Or perhaps the store owner will pay you a small percentage of sales. The Internet version of this is payper-sale.
You have a couple options with affiliate advertising: you can mention the product in an advertisement, like money making Tip #1, or you can drive people to your web site by mentioning it in your podcast and tell them that they can find more information on a specific product there, like money making Tip #2.
In the future we'll probably see this area developed further. Perhaps advertisers will offer listeners a code they can hear then input, like an audio coupon, or perhaps as audio and video podcasting and wireless Internet becomes more refined, people may be able to somehow link to an advertiser's web site in the middle of podcast.
Money Making Tip #5: Paid listeningPodcasting is so new that people are trying to find new ways to use it. Early podcasts were free as people simply saw it as a way to share their views with the world, or companies used it as a way to offer value through marketing.
As the world of podcasting developed, podcasters saw that people were willing to pay for music to their MP3 player, so they asked themselves why wouldn't they be interested in paying for information on the go as well? And so the podcast version of pay-per-view was born.
When you look at the PPV available on cable and satellite television you see that they are specialty channels that are specifically targeted to a niche market: for example, not just the sports channel, but a channel only about basketball. Or a channel for military enthusiasts. Or a channel for hip-hop music lovers. The secret here, again, is the niche market.
While not all markets will want to pay to hear podcasts, some markets will pay top dollar to hear top experts speak about their industry. For example, you might be a financial adviser with some ideas about the stock market, you'll probably have to offer a podcast for free. However, if you are a top financial expert and your accurate analysis is sought after by everyone, you're probably more likely able to sell your analysis as a podcast.
If you do not possess the industry expertise, like that mentioned above, you might be able to post a podcast that brings on experts for listeners to hear, and that way you will still be able to provide a specialty niche market with top-quality information. When you have found the niche market that you want to service, set up a place on your web site for people who are interested in buying a subscription to your podcast to pay you.
A website that lets you sell your podcast to paying subscribers can be found at http://www.premiumpodcasting.com/index.php.In coming years this will be the biggest area of growth in podcasting. Get in "on the bottom floor" and get established as the leading expert in your area of interest. Once you have success in becoming the expert, then you may want to consider branching out into other products and finding advertisers.
Money Making Tip #6: Pod-seminarsMoney making Tip #5 talked about pay-per-listen podcasts that you would do on a regular basis, like a subscription to an audio magazine or specialty channel on cable television. Money making Tip #6 deals more with "one-off" podcasts that are more instructional than informational. Think of these as seminars that people don't have to go to!
You've probably seen advertising for seminars in your hometown on everything from network marketing to marriage improvement. These are very successful because they help establish the person delivering the seminar as an expert in the field, they make money when seats are filled, and they make money on the back end by selling products like books and CDs.
But not everyone goes to these seminars who wants to. Perhaps they're too expensive, or conflict with work schedules, or perhaps the content is too personal for people (like the marriage improvement seminar).
By creating pod-seminars, you're making seminars accessible to people who may not be able to afford to go in person, or who don't have the time to go.>>>SECRETS OF THE PROS! THIS IS A GREAT WAY TO ENHANCE AN EXISTING BUSINESS!
Like money making Tip #5, this area of podcasting is ready to take off. Strap yourself in and get ready for the ride by developing a high quality instructional seminar in podcast format.Money Making Tip #7: Ancillary service
Perhaps you already have a business or an idea for a business and are trying to find a way to increase users. It is already being done in some historical sites and museums and might be an excellent addition for your business as well.
Most companies offer ancillary services of some kind. Theatres sell popcorn. Electronic firms sell extended warranties. Rental car companies sell extra insurance. Furniture retailers ask if you want to buy the leather-care set. Clothing stores offer you a pair of socks and belt for just a few dollars more. Fast food restaurants offer to supersize your meal. Ancillary products or services often have higher profit margins than the product being sold.
At some places, like a historical site, people pay an admission fee, get a map and are free to walk the grounds at their leisure. For a couple dollars more, they get to rent an MP3 player that takes them through on a walking tour that corresponds to the map they received. The first track might take them from the entrance gate to the first site of interest, mentioning things to watch for along the way. The second track might be about a particular place of interest, describing it in greater detail while the person stands there observing. Then the third track might be the description of things to watch out for as they walk to the next place of interest.
Maybe you don't own a museum or an art gallery, but offering this ancillary service is not out of the question for you. Here are some further ideas as a springboard to help you think of ways to make money through this method of podcasting:
• If you live in a town that gets visited by a lot of tourists, you may want to create a podcast of a walking tour or a bicycle tour and rent out MP3 players with these podcasts downloaded on them to go along with maps you sell or bicycles you rent.
• If you sell instructional books or software on translation you may want to also sell a podcast on some of the most basic words and phrases your customer might need to know, so they can take their MP3 player with them while they are the traveling.
• If you market cookbooks, you may want to sell podcasts that offer a radio-show style step-by-step instruction on some of the more popular dishes in your book.• To encourage sales, a book publisher might create a podcast of a book’s alternate ending so that the people who buy the original book can read a different version.
• If you rent cars you might sell podcasts of common destinations around town, including hotels and restaurants and sites to see.
An ancillary service is a service that allows you to charge extra over above your regular service. A podcast to sell as an ancillary service needs to provide good value to the user, and needs to be additional value that they would not get by purchasing the regular service.
>>>SECRETS OF THE PROS! THIS IS A GREAT WAY TO ENHANCE AN EXISTING BUSINESS!
Money Making Tip #8: Freelance podcasterIf the idea of making money podcasting really appeals to you but you don't want to get involved in the administration side of operating your own business, you can become a freelance podcaster.
This means that you can buy freelance podcasting equipment, perhaps even portable podcast recording equipment which is readily available, and advertise your services to people who want to podcast but do not have the time or technical inclination to do so themselves.
Businesses who want to create a podcast on a quarterly basis might not feel that it is worth the money to hire or train someone to podcast so you can rent out your services to them on a regular basis.
Alternatively, maybe a company wants to create a podcast as an instructional book or owner's manual so they are looking for a "one-off" podcast. Or perhaps a company is too small to have someone operate the retail side of the store and create a regular podcast at the same time. In all circumstances, a freelance podcaster might be able to market their services and make a living.
The challenge a freelance podcaster faces is an understanding in the marketplace of what a podcast is. It is such a fledgling industry that many people have not heard of it before so they will be reluctant to try it. However, if you can find a few people who are willing to hire you to podcast for them, and build up a reputation as a freelance podcaster, you'll stand to make big profits as podcasting explodes.
Market your freelance podcasting service as a specialized niche audio program they can offer to any customer with a computer. Create a couple of free podcasts to use as samples.You also have some freedom to offer different service packages, including a package where you host the podcast yourself and "interview" the person who is hiring you, or a self-hosting package where the person is basically buying your expertise but will be sitting in front of the microphone themselves. Or, if someone is already podcasting from their own equipment, you may want to provide an editing and post-production sound mixing service.
Money Making Tip #9: Audio supportAs we learned earlier, podcasts vary in their format which often means that podcasts will vary in their quality. A well formatted podcast is more enjoyable to listen to, which will mean more listeners will subscribe.
Podcasters need several things in order to be successful, even if they don't know they need them. Here is where you can offer a service for people who are already podcasting:• Develop scripts or format templates to help people who are just sitting in front of their microphone rambling. Show them how some direction, even if it is not word-for-word, will help improve their podcast.
• Podcasters need royalty-free music to play at the beginning and end of their podcast, or between segments. If you play an instrument you can create and sell small jingles that are only a couple seconds long but are necessary for podcasters to create a high quality production.
• Sometimes podcasters need sound effects but are limited by what they can do themselves. For example, maybe they need the sound of a ringing phone or the squealing tires of a car but can’t record those sounds themselves in a high quality way. You can have a lot of fun thinking up sounds people need and recording them then selling them!
Money Making Tip #10: Get creative!This is still a fledgling industry and there is so much unexplored territory. You can be sure that the inventor of the car, the phone, or the computer had no idea the extent of income-generating applications available to the modern user when they first invented it!
Here are a couple extra ideas to get you thinking:• If you're a writer or publisher and you have a book to market, consider podcasting a couple "teaser" chapters and providing a link to buy your book.
• A television producer creates a podcast about the show he’s producing so people get a behind-the-scenes look at the show's development. Can you offer a behind-the-scenes look at what you do?
• Can you package and sell other people’s podcasts (with their permission, of course!) in a related and coherent package? For example, can you find podcasts from different people describing different cars and sell them individually to consumers who can listen to a podcast as they try out each car?
Getting creative will help you make money! These are just a few ideas to get you thinking about the opportunities that are out there.What will tomorrow bring?
This list may seem comprehensive right now but it won't be long and this list of 10 ways to make money podcasting will need to be updated to "the 25 ways to make money podcasting" then "the 100 ways to make money podcasting."
As new technologies and new ideas are developed, new ways of combining them and integrating them will be developed as well, and now that you know about podcasting, you'll be better prepared to take advantage of those new developments and make big dollars!
This site hosts podcasts that you can sell to subscribers, like pay-per-view for your MP3!
http://www.portablemediaexpo.com/audio.htm
This is an excellent weekly podcast on podcasting. In fact, it’s one of the best out there. It’s very interesting and informative while still entertaining. If you are going to model your podcast after a well done podcast, this is the one to use!
http://www.stephenlive.com/
Stephen Pierce is a speaker who hosts a podcast on making money. Entrepreneurs will really enjoy this podcast! There is good information and it is a good example of a hosted podcast that is very popular right now.
http://www.podcastingnews.com/
This is an excellent and comprehensive site that covers everything you need to know to get on top and stay on top of the podcasting industry.
1. If you’ve already set up your blog and a regular podcast, you can select some of the ideas above and start implementing them right away. Particularly, you may want to consider affiliate programs through Google’s AdSense, which you can even put on your blog page if you signed up at blogger.com!
2. Now, even if you’re gainfully employed elsewhere, wouldn’t it be great to make a little extra cash by starting a podcasting business on the side? Start thinking about ways to create and service an under-serviced niche market with a high quality podcast. Who knows, maybe it will springboard into a fulltime career!
Take it to the next levelThe next level from above is to simply quit your job and start podcasting. Some people are bold enough to make that step and no one ever made significant changes and improvements without taking significant risks. Be smart about it: create a business plan, talk to some current podcasters who are doing just that, and keep your current free podcast going to make sure you can sustain the level of work needed on an ongoing basis.
Do it now! – For business podcastersIf you run an existing business, you’ve likely been able to come up with dozens of ideas to integrate into your current business.
1. Decide how you can use podcasting for your business.
2. Determine your audience and the format you need.
3. Develop a script for your podcast to help you sound professional.
4. Create high quality podcasts to promote your business or as an ancillary product.
If you’re checking out your options to start a new podcasting company, you might have a couple solid ideas to take to the next level.
1. Select a business idea from one of the Ten Ways To Make Money Podcasting.
2. Determine your audience and the format you are going to use.
3. Develop a script.
4. Sign up at http://www.premiumpodcasting.com/index.php to sell your podcast to the public.
5. Create high quality podcasts to sell.
Take it to the next level
Some people make a very good living by starting companies, making them profitable, and selling them for a good price. Traditional bricks-and-mortar companies have been started that way for years. Online stores have been developed like that by professional start-up entrepreneurs. Why not podcasting companies as well? If you love the thrill and stress of starting up businesses and you think you can handle turning over the reins to someone else after awhile, think about become a professional podcast start-up entrepreneur. You’ll be in a field of your own so you can write your own rules!
Wrap-upYour head is probably buzzing right with one word: opportunity. If you’re like most people, you see podcasting as an exciting way to get informed and be entertained at your leisure, while at the same time giving you the opportunity to make a better living!
Watch your stepDon’t quit your day job until you’re sure you can “make a go of it.” Podcasting is still such an unknown industry that your town or city may be a year or two away from having an aggressive freelance podcaster roaming the streets looking to provide podcasting services. It’s okay to take risks, but think them through carefully with your loved ones to make sure they are calculated risks.
The three things you need to know1. Advertising products, whether yours or someone else’s, or whether directly or indirectly, should be done carefully and tastefully… but it should be done!
2. Paid podcasts are going to be the next wave of podcasts, just like pay-per-view grew out of free television. Determine if you want to become a podcaster who charges for subscriptions on a regular basis, or if you want to create one-off seminars that serve a market who cannot attend regular seminars.
3. Quit your day job and become a freelance podcaster or podcast service provider. Business may start off quietly, but as other people become aware of the blooming industry, you’ll see business pick up!
Stay tuned…The book is done. You know all you need to know to get podcasting! But stay tuned in to the industry with some of the websites suggested in this book and you’ll easily grow with podcasting industry. Who knows, maybe you’ll be the next podcasting expert helping other people learn to podcast… or the next vidcasting expert helping other people learn to vidcast!