Monetize Your Podcast (Without Advertisers)

So, if you’re just starting a new podcast you might still be scratching your head and wondering what your show will be about.

If you’re already a podcaster, you might be wondering how you can breathe new life into your current show or expand your current topic.

People often ask me what their shows should be about or how I chose my podcast topic.

So, let me give you a few examples.

My first podcast is called "Relish the Journey." The subtitle is "Life in three words."

When I was starting out it was important for me to have flexibility. The name has worked for me for years because the idea of relishing a journey can literally apply to anything.

In 2020 I launched a second show for the company I work for. That show is called "Integrate & Conquer." I chose that name because the podcast name is actually the same as the company tagline. In this case I took a branding element and simply held a megaphone up to it. It works!

When you’re choosing a topic or a name you want to pick something that will stand the test of time. It’s a lot of work to build up an audience and the last thing you want to have to do is spin up an entirely new show every year because you’ve exhausted your available content.

Choose topics and names that can grow with you as a person or fit well within your existing company branding. The journal prompts that follow this video will help you work through some of your thinking on this.

I’ve also included the contact info of someone in my network who is a Namer. His sole line of work is in naming companies products and, yes, podcasts. Tell James I sent you and he’ll take good care of you.

Journal prompts to help you work through choosing a topic to podcast about.

This is an article I previously wrote and published on LinkedIn. It gives complete details on all the equipment I use for my podcast studio. There's a link here to the original live stream I did covering the equipment as well.

It doesn’t matter what you call your show or how nice and expensive your equipment is, if your interview questions are shallow, common or delivered like a robot, it’s going to be hard to get people interested enough in your show to the point where you can build a following and then make money.

Likewise, if you’re over prepared and already know the answers to every question you’re going to ask, that’s not fun to listen to either.

That elusive sweet spot is somewhere on the middle.

If you take nothing else from this short course, I want you to remember this one word when it comes to how you show up as an interviewer.

Curious.

You can get away with asking some pretty off the wall things by prefacing a question with “I’m curious”

And, back to not over preparing, it’s even better when you mean it!

So, the best way to think about questions and what to ask or not ask is to focus in learning something in the moment with your audience.

That can be someone’s life story, it can be tips in business, how to write a book, how to expand your speaking career, etc.

If you can build content around learning, you will be able to monetize that learning mater on. But we’ll get to that more in the future.

The most important thing about your questions is to somehow weave between 1 and 3 or the exact same question into every guest interview. Think of your podcast as qualitative research. Every interview is a new data set. Ask different people the same thing and then after a number of interviews, analyze the data, see what is says and then seen what you can create.

I wrote an entire book based on the answers I received to how people answered my signature question: how would you describe your life/journey in three words?

Think about the long game when you’re forming your question list. You won't regret it!

Journal prompts on the topic of preparing podcast questions.

I don’t care who you are and what connections you already have, your first guests should not be the heaviest hitters in your phone book. Start with the people who are going to love you no matter how much you stutter and stumble through questions or fumble with equipment. My first 20 or so episodes were my closest friends and members of my family.

You want to be polished when you approach experts in whatever field you’re building a show in.

You don’t have to publish those first episodes with loved ones, but they’re super important in helping you gain the confidence to approach the pros.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have people on my podcast who have been on Shark Tank and have even won Chopped. Want to know how I got them?

I asked!

Specifically here is the formula

Give them compliment on what they do + tell them why you think they’d resonate with your audience + ask if they would like to share their story = guest

I've included some examples after this video. We’ve blurred out handles for privacy since these are actual Instagram messages.

In each one you’ll see that I’m just being a human.

You’ll also notice I didn’t copy and paste some cold email template that someone promises will work every time.

You know what works every single time?

Being genuine. Being curious. Being kind.

Now, you might be wondering what this has to do with making money from your podcast.

It has everything to do with it. Everything.

Each guest you have expands your circle of influence. Each connection you make can connect you to someone in their circle and so on. Full on 6 degrees of Kevin bacon stuff here.

Approach guests with what you can do for them in mind instead of what they can do for you.

Focus on bringing value to them. Over deliver. And you’ll earn it back in spades.

Journal prompts to help you brainstorm what kinds of guests you want for your show and how you can go about approaching them.

A written article about focusing on going deep vs. going wide -- about chasing engagement vs. vanity metrics.

So, you’ve got your show topic, name and brand, you’ve got your rockstar list of questions and you’re starting to curate high caliber guests, what comes next is the hardest part.

Patience.

I put out 100 episodes before any affiliate marketing opportunities same my way. I thought I had made it! But quickly realized it’s just a great way for brands to make you think you look cool and for them to get basically free marketing.

So, instead of joining someone else’s movement as an affiliate — create your own.

In order to do that you need to create a lot of content. It means consistently putting out episodes and then watching what happens with engagement and download numbers. You’ll know it when you’ve struck a cord.

Once you have a thread of an idea, start pulling on it.

Go deeper into that content topic with more and more guests, ask deeper probing questions, solicit feedback on Instagram stories, give out your email and ask for feedback, etc.

Once you have an area that you know your audience cares about, up the value:

• White papers

• Blog posts

• More podcasts

• Live streams

Then again revisit the data and continue to dial in on what’s working and cut out what’s not.

After you go through this cycle you’ll notice that you’ll become known as the guy or girl who does or knows “x”.

That "x" is important. That’s your brand and that is what you monetize.

Like many of you, I never really thought seriously about writing a book. Then, someone pointed out to me that a podcast is essentially a bunch of qualitative research that could be used for a book project.

So, I started listening back to my first 100 episodes in search of a theme. I found one and got to work.

Books are a great way to build on what we spoke on earlier about creating a movement and establishing yourself as an authority.

Here’s my experience with book writing and I’ve included some prompts and other resources after this video to help you explore the topic.

I treated my podcast interviews as qualitative research and did my best to turn that qualitative into quantitative. I had spreadsheets galore with matrixes listing out common themes across multiple episodes.

Once I had my theme it was all about building my writing habit. I wrote everyday for three months. No exceptions. Sometimes it was for 10 minutes and at the most it was 45 minutes.

I wrote in my phone and on computers and I wrote though voice dictations while driving and walking my dog.

But this isn’t a course just on book writing so I’ll spare you the in-depth details. But here’s the point. While I was writing each day I was sharing how it was going on Instagram stories and in interviews with podcast guests.

I became the guy who wasn’t yet a published author but was writing the book. I brought people along the journey and documented my process of writing, editing, navigating the publishing world l, etc.

By doing that, I’ve made it acceptable for others to approach me with their questions on how to do it.

I’ve made myself accessible and relatable.

So, I started a podcast, I used that to write a book that I could sell and make money. And now I’m making money coaching people on how to write their books.

This is my point — it’s not just about monetizing the podcast. It’s about using the podcast to monetize.

Prompts to assist in the book writing brainstorming process.

TED is a powerhouse name to include on your resume. Everyone knows what TED talks are. And if you are watching this and don’t, please come out from under your rock and join us in the sunshine.

Now, you won’t always make money off of the talk itself, but speaking engagements can be lucrative ways to make money. Having a TED talk is an incredible validation point for booking speaking gigs. As are books, which we spoke about in the last module.

Literally, every single day I have someone else asking me how I got a TED talk and how they can get one too.

Please hear me on this — it’s not rocket science!

How did I get one? I Googled TEDx events near me, I found one, I applied, I auditioned, I got it.

I did not spend too much time over thinking it. I took action. And you can do the same.

Find a talk near you, network with the organizers and apply!

In the resources that follow this video I’ve written out a more comprehensive approach. But really hear me: Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.

Stop overthinking it.

Put in the work.

Show up!

You CAN get it done.

Ideas to assist you as you begin contemplating speaking gigs and landing a TEDx audition.

So, you’ve got a podcast, perhaps you’ve written a book or some blog articles, and you’ve gotten speaking gigs. You’re flying high. What’s next?

The saying "if you build it they will come" sounds great in a movie but is absolute BS in real life. It’s up to you to spread your message. Especially in the beginning!

Another way to monetize is to help others do what you’ve done. Help someone else figure out how to launch a podcast or develop a content strategy. Help someone else frame out their book idea, etc., etc.

Nothing can make this point more effectively than this very course. You have paid me money to hear what I have to say and learn how it could help you. And I got here through podcasting. You can do the same.

Here are two apps to check out: Shapr and Bumble Bizz. (See links in the resources section)

They work just like online dating apps. You upload a photo and profile and then swipe left or right to match with people you’d like to connect with. From there it’s all about forming one on one relationships, building value and directing people to your content or services.

My activities on these apps have resulted in a few thousand dollars a month in coaching clients.

Alright everyone, here we are, final video. BUT THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING!

By now your heads may be spinning — hopefully in a good way with kids of ideas!

Let’s recap:

If we’re looking to monetize a podcast effort, we first need a podcast.

Building a podcast knowing you want to monetize on the future should be a huge driver for you to set up the show format, questions, equipment and guest selection. Think of the long haul here and invest your resources of time and money wisely.

Once you’ve launched your show, the next step towards monetizing is increasing your influence and authority. You want to build up a following around the idea or topic you have. All of your efforts should be on bolstering your reputation here so that when you speak, others listen. You also want to focus on over delivering on this stage. Bring an insane amount of free value to your listeners and by the time you do have an offer that requires a purchase, you’ll have created so much reciprocity that they’ll have no problem sending money your way.

Now we move towards translating that authority into other areas — books, TEDx talks, speaking engagements, online courses like this one, etc.

The ultimate way to maximize revenue is not to just think about monetizing your podcast but about using your podcast to monetize.

Let me say that again.

Don’t just think about monetizing your podcast, shift your way of thinking to focus on how you can use your podcast to monetize.

I hope you’ve found this course helpful!

Also, If I can help you even further on an individual basis please let me know.

Here is my phone number (570-217-3241) and email address (myles@rtjmedia.com). Let’s start a conversation.

Cheers!