The Top 5 Ways to Monetize a Podcast

You have a podcast, but now what?

Once you’ve launched your podcast, found your niche, engaged your audience, and hit your stride, there comes a point where you’re ready to level up. It’s time to try and make money with your podcast (that microphone won’t pay for itself, no matter what the salesperson tells you).

I’ve researched and written about podcasting for over 5 years, and have heard tons of podcasters share their monetization challenges and top advice. Now, I’m packaging it all up for you!

But before we jump into tactics, I need to set some expectations. This isn’t an article about how to catch the biggest sponsorship/brand deal for your podcast.

Let’s be both realistic and think long term.

🚢 Instead of putting all of your effort into snagging that one big Big Money Ship, the best podcasters approach their revenue as multiple streams (or boats, if you will). Some small, some large.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some proven ways to make money with your podcast, and how to manage those monetization strategies.

Diversify your podcast revenue streams

Every book, lecture, and webinar about accruing wealth tells you to diversify your investments. The same goes for podcast monetization strategies. Don't depend on one strategy to balance your accounts.

No one monetization method can provide enough income to balance out what you’ve put into your show so far. Plus, you may burn out and get frustrated if you devote yourself completely to one strategy. This could keep you from exploring other ways to monetize your show.

Your audience isn’t made up of identical robot clones; they won't all respond to the same method.

Many are happy to listen to sponsors or ads that are relevant to them
Some folks might want to support you so that they get episodes early
Some might enjoy live Q&As, or a community space
Others might get excited about a t-shirt in your merch store
And still more might want to buy a VIP suite on your podcast’s exclusive cruise

💡 Tip: When you put effort into several different avenues of income, you have a variety of ways to reach more people who want to support your show.

And if one avenue turns out to be a dead end, you have other options, right?

1. Sponsored content

Since its inception, the phrase “and now a word from our sponsor” has hung over broadcasting. With podcasting, ad technology dominates industry news, as if selling ad space were the only way to measure a podcast’s success or growth.

There are two main ways to monetize your podcast with sponsorships:

Affiliate marketing and advertisements.
Advertisements or commercials

Let’s run through the differences, benefits, and drawbacks of each.

Affiliate marketing

When a podcaster promotes a product or service, giving their audience a coupon code or a custom URL to use when they make a purchase, that’s affiliate marketing. For each sale, the podcaster earns a commission.

What’s great about affiliate marketing is that it’s easy to get started. You don't have to have thousands of downloads per episode. Generally, you visit a company’s website and apply for their affiliate program. When you’re accepted, you agree to abide by their terms and conditions. Then, you make sure that your audience knows this is sponsored content, and that you may earn a commission if they purchase something using your link or coupon code.

Unfortunately, each affiliate marketing scheme only provides so much dosh. Not all of your audience will be interested in everything you promote. They may even skip the ads (perish the thought).

Affiliate marketing schemes are like any salty, crispy deep-fried snack—they’re easy to pick up and hard to stop consuming. But no single chip offers a complete nutritional profile or sustainable energy.

💡 Tip: If a company you love that is relevant to your podcast has an affiliate marketing scheme, jump in. It won't hurt you to tell your audience how that product or service works for you. Plus, it can show marketers your potential with that all-important ad read. Try a bunch of different ones.

And if a company contacts you about affiliate marketing, get a sample of their product before you say yes. Federal Trade Commission regulations require companies to ensure that their marketing is truthful or risk fines. Then, get the agreement in writing, find out what it is about your content that made them choose you to promote their brand, and make sure it’s a good match.

An example of affiliate marketing in action, during this season of Podcraft we talked about our favorite equipment, and used affiliate links to direct people to the right products.

Advertisements or commercials

If you can get your podcast on a media host with built-in ads, and it offsets the cost of your media hosting, go for it. Some media hosting companies, such as RedCircle, provide free hosting in exchange for putting ads on podcasts. Don't expect that ads will result in overnight riches, though.

For every story I’ve heard about a podcaster making money from ad revenue, I’ve heard at least one story from a podcaster who was disappointed with it. While ads can take the sting out of your media hosting, they won’t fulfill your swimming-in-a-pool-of-money dreams from day one.

💡 Tip: Once your podcast has momentum, your audience is emotionally invested, and you release episodes consistently, you can expect to earn more more ad revenue. As long as you keep your ads appropriate to your audience, revenue can grow along with your audience size.

And, sponsorship doesn’t have to follow the standard CPM trend either. Your podcast’s niche is powerful.

If your audience covers a particular region, a regional business could be interested in working with you.
Or if your topic is hyper-niche, then search out a product with the same audience.

That Bike-Packing podcast of yours could earn some good sponsorship dollars once you show Bike Packers LLC how interested your audience is in their bags!

2. Premium or bonus content

Many podcast monetization strategies depend on premium or bonus content.

When I started podcasting nearly ten years ago, crowdfunding platforms like Patreon or Ko-Fi were the main way backers could support podcasters. The simplest benefit that podcasters could provide to backers then was early access to new episodes or bonus episodes. You’re making audio content anyway, so why not make a bit more for the people who care about your show most?

Now, offering paid subscriptions using Apple Podcasts or services like Supporting Cast is easier.

Your supporters get the episodes in a dedicated, ad-free podcast feed.
You make your usual episodes and offer something extra as a thank-you gift. The making isn’t too difficult: duplicate existing episodes and remove ads, or add in the bonus materials.

Audacity is one free tool which can get you there, or Alitu is a paid podcast platform with a great block-based episode builder that lends itself well to adding and removing elements easily.

There may be extra work at the beginning, such as filling out tax forms and setting up a payment method. You also have to remind your audience that this subscription option exists. The platform will take a percentage of your earnings, and you pay the credit card processing fees. But, offering your audience a way to pay you in exchange for getting more of your show faster has proven to be a fruitful monetization strategy for many podcasters.

bonus content podcast monetization tactic

In platforms like Patreon, you can add numerous support tiers, and offer different levels of premium content and access to each

3. Book, product, or service

You can easily repurpose your podcast’s content into products that sell.

For example, you can:

Compile your podcast episode scripts into an e-book, or self-publish a hard copy book.
Sell products related to your topic that solve your audience’s problems. A fly fishing podcast could sell special tackle boxes, for example. A knitting podcast can package a pattern and materials into a kit.
Individual coaching sessions via videoconference or mastermind sessions can expand on the knowledge you present in your podcast, growing your audience’s expertise and confidence.

💡 Tip: This may be the most resource intensive way to monetize your podcast. You’ll need a website to describe what customers get, a point of sale, and a reliable delivery method. But you’re reusing information you already put into your show and impacting your audience.

4. Community: a confluence of podcast monetization tactics

All of these podcast monetization schemes require work, some more than others. Managing your income streams can feel like juggling responsibilities. It can also take time and effort away from what you started doing in the first place: podcasting.

But, when you start an online community, you can use many of the aforementioned strategies, manage them all through one website, and connect with your podcast audience simultaneously.

In fact, you can even sell access to that online community.

Founder of Web Designer Pro, Josh Hall, says that many people come through the podcast for his courses, and then get sold on the community offer as a whole. It’s been his biggest growth driver!

First, start a free tier to get your audience in the door

Prompt your followers to communicate with each other, and get excited about your show’s topic. In time, they’ll respond to your show amongst themselves, and you won't have to introduce them to each other.

Make the community rules and expectations clear so someone else doesn’t come into your community and start spamming your followers or spewing hate speech.

Here’s where the gold stanchions and the velvet rope come in.

The free tier on IndiePod encourages tonnes of engagement and community building.

Then, start a VIP tier for paid community members, and add services

This way, for your paid community members, you can:

Offer discounts on your books, products, or services
Provide free sample chapters of your books,
Share premium content, or early access to new episodes
Host live Q&A sessions for your followers or discussions with guests.

Community helps your followers become emotionally invested in your podcast. When your followers need validation or answers, the group is there. Members also have the satisfaction of supporting other members virtually while they support you financially.

💡 Tip: Creating an online community isn't a set-it-and-forget-it situation. It’s not as if you bought a dollhouse for your followers to live in, pay rent, and say nice things about you. You have to show up. Your audience will only talk to each other so much, otherwise, why wouldn't they simply ditch your party and make their own? Put the same consistency into your community and monetization tactics that you put into your podcast.

You know Josh Hall who I mentioned above? His community is now his biggest revenue stream, bringing in over $25,000 per month (as of May 2024). So although it takes work to build and manage a community, the potential is massive!

To make your community engagement schedule easier, use a site that lets you access it on your phone. This way, you can check in with your community while walking your dog or waiting in line at the grocery store. Take our IndiePod community on Circle, as an example. We offer a great free space for conversations and connections, and a paid tier for education, support and motivation. The combination is where the magic is, allowing members to level up when it suits them!

Our paid tier offers courses, resources, coaching and more organized activities.

5. Podcast or brand merchandise

Who doesn’t love a good podcast coffee mug to show off at a Zoom meeting? One size fits all, and you show everyone else on the group chat how clever you are.

One of the best benefits of podcast merchandise is that your audience effectively becomes your marketing team.

A friend once loved my podcast so much that he bought a T-shirt with the show’s logo and wore it daily while driving a mapping software vehicle. People saw the T-shirt at every gas station, coffee shop, diner, and hotel he visited on his cross-country drives. Who hasn’t used “I like your T-shirt” as a conversation starter?

💡 Tip: Making and selling podcast merchandise is easy using print-on-demand services such as TeePublic or RedBubble. You don’t have to worry about sizes, quantities, returns, or shipping—that’s all between the customer and the print-on-demand service.

The ease of use has made these services popular with all kinds of digital content creators, which has caused loads of new services to spring up. If you choose to use a print-on-demand service for your podcast merchandise, make sure the base items (coffee cups, tote bags, etc.) are good quality and have a wide range of sizes where necessary. You don't want your great podcast associated with poor-quality stock.

Web Designer Pro community swag store.

And, if you want to level up, find a company that makes unique merchandise with your podcast’s name or logo.

Why should your fly fishing podcast sell t-shirts when they could sell branded fishing waders?

Unique merchandise inspired by an aspect of your show is more interesting than the usual items. Of course, it advertises your show and makes you a couple of bucks. Plus, you’ll accumulate a mailing list since you ship out the items. But you’ll be responsible for shipping or storing the unsold merchandise, which could take you away from podcasting.

Build a gathering place for a variety of monetization options.

There are many different ways to monetize your podcast. Which is “best” depends on your niche, audience, and how they prefer to interact. No single monetization strategy guarantees a consistent paycheck, so don't rely on only one strategy to make money with your podcast.

Try one or two of these choices to start:

Check out some print-on-demand merchandise websites and see which you like best. Set up a storefront for your merchandise on one, and link to it in your show notes.
Look over your past episode scripts (or transcripts). Can you edit these into a book and sell it to your audience?
Bookmark our guide to the best affiliate programs for podcasters. Not only does it provide details on making affiliate programs work, but it can also link you to some of the best affiliate programs, so you can start earning.
Look at your podcast downloads and see where your show is most downloaded. Then, think about businesses in that area who would be interested in your audience. If you can stop by the business to make face-to-face contact, so much the better. Your fly fishing podcast and a local bait and tackle shop could have a productive friendship.
Create an online community to keep in touch with your podcast’s audience. They’ll provide unique insights that can give you ideas for monetization strategies in the future.

Monetization doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing strategy. Try a few different tactics, one step at a time. Instead of waiting for one financial ship to come in, you can welcome a fleet to the regatta. You’re not just building a boat dock. You’re building a pier for you and your audience to socialize, learn, play, and make money. Have fun!

About the guest author:

Lindsay earned an MFA in Playwriting from Temple University in Philadelphia, and took her live theater skills straight to podcasting. She enjoys helping people find new ways to tell their stories. When she’s not writing content or participating in the Live Q&As for The Podcast Host, she enjoys making audio drama and learning more about the craft of interactive storytelling. If you’d like to read advice from Lindsay and the rest of her team on how to start your own show, read their 'how to start a great podcast' guide here.

The top 5 ways to monetize your podcast