Podcasting is not exactly a walk in the park, more so is when you decide to monetize your podcast. 

In my experience, I’ve committed mistakes in this specifically, as other podcasters. And that experience gave me the knowledge I would like to share with you today. To save you from going through the same, I figured this topic would be of great value to you. 

In this episode, I will share with you the four mistakes in podcast monetization you need to avoid and why you have to avoid them.

Waiting Too Long Before Monetizing Your Podcast

Many podcasters wait too long to monetize their podcast. In their mind, they need to achieve a certain number of downloads before they can monetize. Well, the answer is NO. You only need a small group of engaged listeners to monetize your podcast. You don’t need thousands, you don’t need millions. It just really depends on how engaged your audience is, and their willingness to pay for an offer that they see valuable.

Using A Lot Of Monetization Strategies At Once

This is the same with niching down. When you use a lot of strategies, your focus is compromised. There are many strategies to monetize your podcast, like product services, affiliate links, offering memberships, and so on. The options are limitless, but at the same time, doing many strategies risks the quality of your service. Focus on one strategy, test it if it works, and make sure you’ve done everything to make it work. And if it doesn’t, move to the next strategy. 

On the other hand, if you do want to use more than one strategy, make sure you master the first one before working with another strategy. Do it one at a time. That way, you are able to step up and still make sure you still deliver excellent results for you and your customer.

Don’t Be Too ‘Salesy’

If you want to monetize your podcast, you do need to sell. However, being too pushy is not a good strategy. The most important thing here is to provide value. Having a podcast is all about giving value to your listeners, and eventually building trust over time. When your listeners become loyal to you, and trust is built, you don’t need to do hard selling. You can easily monetize your business without being too salesy. The value you bring, will sell your podcast.

Misaligned Sponsorship

Before you consider a sponsorship, think about your brand and your audience. A misaligned sponsorship is dangerous for your brand. Why? Because you might end up losing the trust of your listeners. Sponsors for your podcast should be something that gives value to you and your audience. Your sponsors should be something that you genuinely promote because you’ve tried them, and it should be something your listeners would potentially use too. Again, alignment is so important. Be true to your brand and let your podcast speak for you.

Conclusion

Venturing into podcast monetization is not easy, but learning from the experiences of others will definitely help and give you an insight to your own journey. And that is exactly my goal in this episode. To help you avoid the common mistakes in podcast monetization.

Monetize your podcast in 12 weeks

Do you want to monetize your podcast but are you not sure what exact steps to take? Click here to find out more about Podcast Monetization 101!