How to Turn Your Music Or Guest Podcast Into a Full-Time Job

51% of American in the U.S listen to podcasts on a weekly basis so what an audience to cater for.

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The rise of podcasting has been nothing short of meteoric, and it shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, with the advent of new technology and improved audio quality, podcasting will only become more popular in the years to come.

While some people treat podcasting as a hobby, others see the medium as a way to make a living. It’s an effective trampoline for social media managers, bloggers and business owners to reach a wider audience. In short, podcasting is a mainstream stage for content creators that you shouldn’t miss out on.

Podcasting as a primary source of income is not a new concept. Some of the most prominent podcasters can make up to $30 million for their shows, turning it into a full-time job.

However, there are still many who are struggling to make ends meet. If you’re interested in turning your podcast into a business, there are several underwater stones to avoid. Let’s look at how you can start podcasting for profit:

Choose quality over quantity

When you’re first starting out, it’s easy to fall into the mindset that you need to record as many episodes as possible. More episodes mean more listeners, right? Not necessarily!

In the early days of your podcast, it’s essential to focus on quality over quantity. Sometimes, pushing on one point at a time might pay off better than spilling your efforts out on too many episodes. Remember that a well-researched and high-quality podcast is your magnet for keeping listeners coming back for more.

Invite guests

If you’re podcasting to make money, you need to start treating your podcast as a business. And like any business, you need to network and build relationships with other professionals.

Inviting guests to your program is one of the most effective ways to do this. Who will promote your show better than prominent influencers from related fields? Inviting guests is a smart move. Dialogues can spice up the shows, making them more amusing and exciting. This way, you can tap into an influencer’s networks, reach a whole new audience, and open new opportunities for monetization down the road.

Incorporate sponsorships

Applying sponsorships and live-read podcast ads to your show is one of the most popular ways to earn money via podcasting. In brief, podcast sponsorship is the act of a company or individual paying to be featured in someone else’s podcast episode. The sponsor is usually given a predetermined amount of time to deliver a message in the episode. The pre-roll and post-roll ads typically last up to 30 seconds, occupying 10% of the whole episode. The mid-roll ads, on the contrary, may last as long as 90 seconds. However, as the industry grows, the average length of inbuilt ads has become 60 seconds.

The cost of ads inserted in podcast episodes is measured according to CPM (Cost Per Mille), equaling 1,000 podcast listeners or downloads. Today, the average CPM rate for podcasts is $26 for a standard 60-second ad CPM. The rates may change depending on the number of listeners per episode.

Some basic calculations will quickly help you understand how much you can earn through advertising. Suppose you’ve included two ads, each costing $26. On the condition that you have approximately 2,000 downloads per episode and air up to four episodes per month, two ads will bring you from $215 to $322 in monthly revenue. Nevertheless, the sky is not the limit, and your next podcasting income can be higher than the industry standards if you implement the right ad strategies.

Summing up the observations, once an obscure tool, podcasting has grown into a powerful marketing and content-generating medium today. Results provided by sharing your voice with the target audience intimately and uninterruptedly are genuinely fascinating!

The main question of today’s discussion is: Can people record podcasts for profit? The answer is a resounding yes! People are already making a fortune by podcasting, and there’s no reason you can’t be one of them. All you need is a good idea, high-quality content and the drive to make it happen.

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Dan Dunn

Executive Managing editor

Editor and Admin at MarkMeets since Nov 2012. Columnist, reviewer and entertainment writer and oversees all of the section's news, features and interviews. During his career, he has written for numerous magazines.

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