C-Suite Network™

Can Podcasting Make Money?

Thanks to the pandemic, we are spending more time than ever before looking at our screens, whether it’s on Zoom for our work meetings, news sites to keep us updated on the latest happenings, or social media for our connections and entertainment. This overemphasis on visual content gives business leaders an opportunity to sell their offerings or share their thought leadership through a different sensory experience.

Enter the monetized podcast.

According to Edison Research, 3.32% of Americans — 90 million people – listen to podcasts each month, with an impressive 74% of podcast users listening to learn something new. This is a perfect opportunity for great businesses and influencers to enter into the hearts and minds of their audiences – and future customers – through the doorway of their ears.

So what are a few of the ways one can make money in this exploding medium? As VP of Thought Leadership of the C-Suite Network and business podcaster myself, I can share how some of the brightest strategic minds have made money with audio content.

  • Sponsorship – Find companies that would love to have their brand affiliated with your podcast. If you are producing a show on health and wellness, secure a sponsorship with a growing company in the industry who will pay you $X every month for the privilege of having you announce them on your show in the introduction, during breaks, and the exit. You can have their information available in the show notes and create co-branded cover art. There are marketing departments that would gladly pay for this type of visibility for the right fit.
  • Attraction – Invite your future customers to be on your podcast! Oftentimes buyers will gladly accept a professional invitation to be a guest on a podcast before they will take your sales call. After they have an outstanding experience with you on your podcast, they are the warmest they will ever be to you. That is when you casually mention you can also help them with (insert revenue-generating product or service here).
  • Conversion – Do you have warm leads that you need to nudge over the finish line into booked business? Have them on one of your future episodes to share their valuable insights. This tactic has two powerful results: 1) your future customers will appreciate being recognized for their contributions and expertise, and 2) the Law of Reciprocity will kick in. This law states that, when someone does something nice for us, our natural, unconscious inclination is to want to reciprocate in kind. Karma is good. And it sells.
  • Upsell – Sometimes the best place to make money is with those we’ve already done business with before. If you have a customer you haven’t serviced in a long time, having them on your podcast is a perfect reason to get them back in your professional orbit in a meaningful way. You likely won’t turn all of those invitations into revenue for other lines of business, but you will for some of them. And some is better than none.
  • Collaboration – There are often unexpected forms of income that result when we strategically engage with others. Having talented colleagues on your podcast – or you on theirs – opens doors for exciting partnerships that could form as a result of your creative collaboration. At bare minimum, you have established another referral source for your business, and, depending on the person’s assets and vision, you could create a brand new lucrative venture or an affiliate marketing program!
  • Donation – Ask your listeners to pay you! Platforms like Patreon do the legwork for you and give you the structure for your fans to fund your podcast with a few simple clicks on their phones.
  • Advertising – This is the Holy Grail of podcasting that so many hosts chase after. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, marketers will spend $1billion on podcast advertising every year. However, the downside is that most podcasts don’t get enough downloads to earn anything more than an upgrade to one’s weekly coffee order. (The average podcast has 141 downloads in the first thirty days.) For those who do see show downloads in the thousands, be sure to partner with a platform that offers an attractive CPM rate. You could get a big check cut for you every month simply by doing what you love.

If you are a content provider for business, consider becoming an Executive Leader with Contributing Media Services from the C-Suite Network. In addition to having your show hosted on C-Suite Radio, the world’s largest business podcast network with an impressive advertising revenue-share offering, you’ll also get two of the keys to successful monetization of any content: credibility and community.

As a C-Suite Radio Host, you’ll be affiliated with a powerful network that will open doors to prospective guests that would otherwise not be made available to you when you are going it alone. It will also give you a stronger position when selling sponsorships. Most importantly, you’ll have access to a vast network of vetted business executives with whom you can share your show. Nothing is more impactful than a genuine connection with other professionals of like mind. The podcast downloads will naturally follow.

The short answer to the question, “Can podcasting make money?” is a resounding YES, especially when one puts strategic thought into the implementation instead of merely clicking the Record button.

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