8 Ways You Can Make Money With A Podcast

If you’ve read anything I’ve written before, you know I don’t love listicles (articles that start with “8 Ways…” or “3 Tips…”). But, I’m breaking my own rule, because this listicle can actually help make you money. And I like helping people make money.

Alright. Ready? Listicle powers… ACTIVATE!

#1: Sponsorships

This is a no-brainer. If you’ve listened to a podcast, ever, then you’ve probably heard a sponsor mentioned (mail-kimp). Sponsorships and podcasts go together like peanut butter and jelly. And not that grape jelly crap, ew.

Find companies that align with your show’s topic and who your audience is, then pitch those companies to pay you money to talk about them. Sure, there’s a lot more to getting sponsorships than that, but I have an entire website dedicated to getting a paying sponsor if that interests you.

I’ve personally made over $12,000 in sponsorship revenue with the Action Army podcast this year. The podcast started with 0 listeners. I only emailed 15 companies to make that much money. You absolutely can do the same thing if you know what you’re doing!

#2: Digital Products

Think of pitching a digital product on your podcast episodes just like you would a sponsorship.

Use the pre and post-roll segments of your podcast to share why the digital product you made is going to help your listener.

Whether it’s an e-book, online course, live workshop, or some other cool thing you’ve whipped up, don’t be afraid to promote your own goodies on your show! And get your mind out of the gutter, we’re talking about your sweet business goodies.

You’re still thinking about your goodies, aren’t you?

#3: Services

What’s that? You’re a designer? A life coach? A yoga instructor? A professional teddy bear stuffer? Awesome! Use your podcast as a megaphone to promote the services you get paid for.

The cool thing about your podcast is that you get to decide what you want to talk about. And… You may even develop a service offering you didn’t have before as your show continues to grow and evolve.

#4: Repackaging Content

Remember that delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwich we made together? Imagine you didn’t eat the entire thing and saved a little bit for later. You can take that leftover sandwich and turn it into other cool things that can be sold for cash-money.

In 2014 Paul Jarvis and I made $40,000 by repackaging things we’d already made and promoted them on our podcast. Yeah. Stuff we’d already made. Repackaged. In a nice 1-gallon ziploc bag. (Not actually in a ziploc bag.)

#5: Affiliates

Do you often talk about other products or services? Could those benefit your listeners? Then why not get affiliate links for those things and promote those links on your show (with disclosure obviously).

Affiliate links are great when done correctly. It costs your listener no extra money at all and gives you a little kickback into your bank account.

But just like grape jelly, affiliate links can suck and ruin everyone’s day if you’re a jerk about it. Don’t do that and don’t eat grape jelly.

If you write show notes, or are thinking about having show notes for your podcast, affiliate links are an opportunity you don’t want to pass up.

#6: Paid Community

Having an audience for your podcast means people like you and what you’re talking about. You know what that sounds like? An opportunity to let them connect with each other, get access to you, and make some cashola.

My friends Emily and Kathleen started a private Facebook Group for their podcast Being Boss. It started with 0 people. A year later? They had 13,000 members. Then they offered an exclusive paid community and had a captive audience to sell to. But notice I didn’t say they started with a paid community. They grew a free community first and then figured out there was an opportunity to monetize a smaller exclusive community.

#7: Events

Do you like talking with people in-person? Shaking hands? High fiving? Kissing babies? Then take your show on the road.

Events are a great way to get people to build a deeper connection with you, your podcast, and other folks who tune in to your majestic episodes.

And #8: Public Speaking

What do you do on a podcast every episode? No, not make peanut butter and jellies. You speak!

Podcasting is a great way to hone your public speaking skills. Sure, you’re not going to overcome your fears of talking in front of a crowd, but, you will hone your ability to keep people’s attention with your words. Plus, your podcast becomes a megaphone for trying to land speaking opportunities. Huzzah!

So, do you want to make money with your podcast and learn from an awesome group of people who’ve already done it?

Podcast Like A Boss will give you the practical steps to not only create, plan, and launch your podcast (like a boss), but also monetize it and use it to help grow your business.

We’ve run this workshop before. It’s been a featured workshop on a site that reaches millions of people. And between our 4 podcasts, we’ve amassed over 2,000,000 podcast downloads. We know our stuff and we want to share that stuff with you on November 15!

Don’t fret if you already have commitments on Nov 15. Purchasing Podcast Like A Boss gets you lifetime access to the workshop content, the interactive lesson workbooks, and all the bonus awesomeness.

Head on over to Podcast Like A Boss and grab your early bird ticket before the price increases from $229 to $279 next Thursday (Nov 7).

It’s time for you to podcast like a boss.