Got a Podcast? Here’s How to Make Money from It (And What the Next Ten Years Holds)
Another couple of important video presentations recommended by radio futurologist James Cridland. This time, the focus is podcasting.
- Radio, Social Media Influencers and YouTubers: How They All Could (and Should) Work Together
- How is the Music Industry Changing? Let’s Count the Ways
Note that the examples given in the first video apply to podcasts that are backed by either large corporations, like as mentioned in the video, Universal, or is hosted by someone that has worldwide recognition due to being a sportscaster in the UK, US, and had their voice used in video games, etc. By and large if you are not on PodcastOne, AudioBoom, or similar, you are not reaching the percentage in clicks, sales, etc. that was mentioned in the top video. Advertising firms like Midroll demand results, and if they don’t see them in a few weeks time, they pull whatever ads of theirs you displaying, or selling during one of your episodes. I have been podcasting for many years, and I have also come across a lot of known musicians, and small market personalities that got into podcasting because everyone they knew was going to watch, listen, and buy whatever it was they were selling. They were going to be making a killing, because someone sold them on the idea that it was quick and easy money. But the reality is 95% of all podcasts and podcasters lose more money than they make, the building of an audience unless you are a known commodity takes some time, sometimes years. Even if you are a known commodity, it does not guarantee you anything, because if you do not release worthwhile content to your listeners, no one will listen, and listeners will not purchase anything you are selling on your site or during your shows.
Plenty of large corporations have jumped into podcasting as well, and abandoned shortly after because they don’t know how to engage people that normally buy their products, they dump a ton of money into a show, only to pull the plug a short time later because they haven’t seen the results they expected. You can find plenty of discontinued shows YouTube, iTunes or any of the podcast directories that are available on the web.
Podcasting is far from new, there are plenty of shows that have been around for over a decade. It isn’t the “hot new thing” in advertising, look at Adam Carolla for example. He has been a successful podcaster for many years. But like any other sector of business that takes off, you will always have snake oil salespeople coming along trying to sell you their quick fix elixir that promises stardom at the snap of a finger. He, as mentioned above, came into podcasting with a huge audience that he built overtime while on the comedy strip circuit, on TV and radio. His years of hard work paid off. Hard work is the only secret to not only garnering an audience for your podcast, but commercializing it as well.
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Thanks, Alan! 🙂
REALLY good stuff in the newsletter today! VERY helpful. I’ve forwarded it to a bunch of people.
I would also add there are platforms such as RadioYo (full disclosure, I’m with RadioYo) where content creators/Hosts/Podcasters can sell their episodes.