So you want to learn how to make money with podcasts?

Today, I’m going to go over the different ways that podcasters are monetizing their show and making money with podcasts.

My name is Luis Congdon, the host of Thriving Launch Podcast.

We’re doing five figures a month with our show, traveling the world, and landing celebrity interviews on a consistent basis. I’m excited to dial in with you about how podcasters are making money with their show.

Let’s dive into one of the first ways on how to make money with podcasts.

How To Make Money With Podcasts – Sponsorships

The very first way and the one that everyone talks about as the holy grail of podcasting is sponsorships.

Simply put, sponsorship is where a company or an individual pays you to talk about their brand or their company, and help them drive business and brand awareness.

Related Article: How To Get Podcast Sponsors And Where To Find Them

Well, I think sponsorships are the Holy Grail or something that everyone talks about.

There are other methods and I want to dive in with those because I think these are even more important and ones that you can start jumping into right away regardless of where your show is at.

How To Make Money With Podcasts – Having Membership Sites

One of the other ways on how to make money with podcasts is by having a membership site or some program of their own that they’re selling through their show.

Related Article: 9 Ways To Make Money With A Podcast

Now, if you have a podcast and you’ve heard about sponsorships, and you’re thinking, “I’m going to land a sponsor, and that’s going to be the best thing to do,” let me give you some advice. Start selling your own products and services right away.

How To Make Money With Podcasts – Start Selling Your Products And Services

Right from day one, you should start offering your own products and services. Make commercials and offer it on your website because that is, in my opinion, the holy grail of podcasting. Own your own product, own your own service, and get 100% commission for every sale you make.

Now, there are some other ways podcasters are making money with their show.

How To Make Money With Podcasts – Offer A Membership Exclusive

Like for example, some podcasters offer a membership exclusive, something like behind the scenes of the podcast.

Get The Make Money Podcasting Guide

Let’s say you interview somebody that your audience loves, and your podcast is usually 20 minutes, but you do a 40-minute interview with them. So now, you can sell the behind the scenes 20 minutes extra of that interview, and you can consistently do that on a regular basis so that then, the paid members of your podcast can buy it.

One example of that is Mixergy. Mixergy is a very big podcast, and they’ve done very well.

One of the things Warner does through his podcast is he offers membership to behind the scenes of his podcast, and he does very well, and that’s just one example of somebody who’s selling behind the scenes.

How To Make Money With Podcasts – Affiliate Branding Or Sales

Another way on how to make money with podcasts is through affiliate branding or affiliate sales. One of the ways you can do that is simply Google products or brands you like and type in the word “affiliate.”

Let’s say you love Nike shoes or you love iTunes, or you love products on Amazon. You just type in “Amazon affiliates,” and you can sign up to become an affiliate, and on your website, and on your podcast, offer the affiliate sale of whatever product you like.

We’ve covered a few of the ways on how to make money with podcasts, but I want to give you whole spectrum because you can start implementing all these different methods as soon as you’re ready and right out the gate.

With sponsorships, you can’t do it right away. That’s why I think these other methods that I’m talking about, they’re way better and this is stuff that you should be doing if you have a podcast.

How To Make Money With Podcasts – Sell The Transcripts

One of the other ways is people are selling the transcripts.

Let’s say I do a 40-minute interview. It’s amazing and awesome, and people are like, “Hey, I’d like to read the interview. I’d love to get the specific resources or pull out a quote from the episode.”

Related Article: Podcast Ideas That Will Make You Money

One of the things that my friend, Ben Settle, and some other guys do are they’re selling the transcripts. What they do is they’re like, “If you want to read the show notes and read the verbatim, and a few other bonuses, for $0.99 or a dollar or $5, you can get the transcript.”

You can use something like rev.com to get your episode transcribed for a buck or under a buck a minute. It doesn’t cost you very much, but you will need to make some sales at least 20 or 30 or 40 sales to at least make up the difference. But that’s just one more way that people are making money from their podcast.

Now, there’s another way people are making money from their podcast, and it’s one that not a lot of individuals are thinking about when they’re doing interviews and when they’re doing their show, but it’s one that I want to get it into your mind. I want you to start thinking about this because like I always say, with a podcast, you’re sitting on a gold mine. It is incredible the opportunity you have.

How To Make Money With Podcasts – Do Joint Ventures Or Email Drops

One of the other ways you can do that is to do joint ventures or affiliates or email drops with your guests.

Let’s say you have an awesome guest on your show and they have a product that your audience would love. Well, you just say to your guest, “Hey, I’d love to do an email drop for you,” or “I’d love to do a commercial for your show and let’s make some money together.” That will generate a conversation.

Do you already have an offer?

Maybe you have a product that their audience would love and you know that it would be an easy sell for them. You know the metrics, and you’re doing well because you don’t want to be like “Hey, you interviewed Dave Asprey. He’s somebody I love and sir, I have a product that I think his audience would like.”

But you know what? Dave is in a whole different ball field than me, so I didn’t ask him, “Hey, can we do an email drop of our product with you?” But now, other people are in a different place. They’re in a more open area than others in regards to the business that we could do together, and it’s appropriate, so I ask them.

Now, you can do this. You can ask your guest through an email, or you can ask them after the show, but you can do business with your guests, and it’s something I want to plug into your mind right now. It’s because as you start to rack up all these interviews and all these connections, don’t just think of it as an interview. It’s a business opportunity.

Get The Make Money Podcasting Guide