How To Start a Podcast and Turn It into A Profitable Business

You problem learnt how to start a podcast as a hobby and a passion. But who says you can’t make it a lucrative business? With time, you need to start thinking about how to make money from your podcast. The well-paid podcasters earn around $75,000 per episode, $900,000 per month, and up to $30 million per year. Whether you are just starting a podcast and you want to have an end in sight or you are already generating a little income from your show, you need a guide on how to convert your podcast into a profitable business. Generating revenue from your podcast is easier now than ever. There are millions of active podcast listeners globally and that number is rising. Added to this is the fact that a higher percentage of podcast listeners have college degrees and earn between $100,000 and $150,000. Therefore, you have the right avenue to get your podcast to the right audience. In this piece, attention will be on how to start a podcast and turn it into a profitable venture. This guide will help you turn your podcast into a money making venture. 

The Cost of Starting a Profitable Podcast Business

You might be wondering how much it costs to start a podcast business. It may seem weird to you, but you need to understand that podcasting, just like any other business venture, involves risk. Navigating these risks requires a certain level of commitment and doggedness. To smooth your path to establishing your podcast as a business, you must know what it costs. You can start a podcasting business for as little as $0 as long as you have a smartphone and a space to record. However, you need to prioritize quality, so you may need to shed a few dollars to start your business. Time is one of the essential costs of creating a podcast. It has been established that you need to devote time to the pre-production, production, and post-production stages of your podcast. Sourcing for the right employee has both monetary and non-monetary implications. If you are just starting out, you won’t necessarily need a large team, but it is better to have one or two people than fly solo.

How To Turn Your Podcast into A Profitable Business

• Define Your Podcast

If you still consider your podcast business a side project or something you do to kill time, you can’t make a business out of it. You have to approach your podcast with a business mindset. The result of the time, money, and energy you devote to your podcast is measured by the way you view it. After you have learned how to start a podcast, treating it as a business venture should be your next point of action. You must answer the question: what kind of content are you creating? How are you adding value to your listeners? How do you measure the success of your podcast? The podcasting business is give and take. You give your audience valuable content in exchange for support and patronage. You have to clearly define the purpose of your podcasting business. Certain aspects of business that are easily ignored, like office space for your podcasting business, should be addressed. Of course, you can continue to work from your home office, but you must identify it as part of your business.

• Outline your podcast goals

For a podcast to transition from a hobby to a lucrative business, you must have clearly defined goals, objectives, and visions. Set long-term and short-term objectives. Define where you see your podcast in the next five years. This may be to increase the number of your podcast subscribers to 1000 by the end of the first quarter of the year. Notice how the goal is specific and time abounds. Furthermore, your podcasting business goals must include the monetary aspect. You must highlight your sources of income and how much you can earn in a stated period. How do you intend to achieve your goals? Before you start your podcast, consider drawing up a comprehensive business plan. This will ultimately guide you in achieving your stated goals. What is the vision of your organization?

• Treat Your Podcast as A Separate Entity

You can register your podcast as a Limited Liability Company or an LLC. This way, your business has a life of its own, separate from its owners. Apart from the tax benefits, you will be protecting both your podcasting business and yourself with an LLC. With an LLC, your podcasting business can sue and be sued. Your personal assets are protected in the event of a limited liability or if your podcasting business ever defaults. For a business to survive, accurate bookkeeping is essential. Your personal income and expenses should be differentiated from those of your podcast business. More so, you need to separate your personal social website and social media accounts from those of your podcast.

• Highlight Your Podcast Assets

Every business has assets and liabilities. Your podcast assets are what you need to start a podcast. Human resources in your podcast business include you since it will be better to be hands-on in the management of your business. Therefore, you must invest in yourself as well as your podcast. Learn business management with free educational materials on YouTube. Take time to learn how successful podcasters amass fortunes by attending courses online, paying for books or subscribing to newsletters. Other personnel may include a sound engineer, graphics designer, a host, and an outreach manager. At the same time, what you need to start a podcast includes a microphone, smartphone, and probably a laptop. RSS feeds, artwork, and brand are also some of the valuable assets of your podcast business. The beauty of it is that you can start small and hire just a couple of people with just your microphone and your smartphone to start your podcasting business. At any rate, you must invest in equipment and personnel. Consider your investment as capital for starting a lucrative business.

• Curate Revenue Streams

Any businessman worth his salt knows that a business needs to have ways of generating income. It could not survive otherwise. The podcasting business is not an exemption. In some cases, the number of downloads you have will determine whether brands will partner with your podcast. However, you can source revenue even without external support as long as you have your podcast. This is the act of selling your experience. Some of the ways of monetizing your podcast for it to become profitable include:

• Affiliate Marketing

In affiliate marketing, you mention brands on your show or on your blog in exchange for payment after a sale is made. Generating revenue as an affiliate marketer on your podcast does not require that you have a large audience. Therefore, this is something you can do as a podcaster just starting out. You can get up to 50% of the sales made through the link you share.

• Sponsored Ads

Studies have found that sponsored advertising increases brand awareness. 75% of podcast listeners are more likely to buy a product if they hear an advertisement for it on their favorite podcast. This is why businesses are spending close to $2 billion on podcast ads to reach their consumers. According to AdvertiseCast, the average rate for podcast advertising ranges from $18 for a 30-second CPM to $25 for a 60-second CPM. Therefore, the more downloads you have, the more you earn from sponsored advertising.

• Online Courses and Coaching

If you have vast knowledge and experience in your podcasting genre, you can make money from it by teaching others. Podcasters can teach people on platforms like Coursera, Udemy, and Skillshare and generate income. Teaching courses online is more profitable for podcasters with loyal fans. You can easily promote your courses on your podcast or through a newsletter to your listeners.

• Books

Writing books does not only help you generate revenue; it is also a great way to increase your listeners. Furthermore, writing a book builds your brand image and makes you an authority in your industry. You can convert your podcast episodes into best sellers. Better still, you can convert your book into a podcast if you already have one.

• Get Your Podcast to Your Target Audience

Sure, social media is a must for podcast promotion, but you need to be strategic about it. Don’t be on all platforms at once. If you stretch yourself too thin, you will end up losing sight of the end goal. You must learn the demographics of your target audience and then find out how best to serve them. Who is your audience? Where are they clustered? Factors like age, income, and gender are crucial when designing marketing strategies for your podcast. For instance, genres like True Crime have an overall majority of female listeners. In addition, research has shown that the majority of podcast listeners are between the ages of 12 and 34 years old. Try out different social media platforms and monitor your podcast performance. If your podcast listeners are found on Facebook and TikTok, design your podcast promotion around the platforms.

Final Thoughts

Your podcast can become a very lucrative business. You just need to take the first step. You must tweak your mindset to believe that your podcast is a serious business. It might help to separate your business from anything personal by registering it as an LLC. More importantly, you must outline where the money is coming from and how it will be spent.