Marc's Blog

One of the big misconceptions about podcasting is that you need a popular show to start making money. Then you can start reaching out to sponsors and more of your listeners will buy more of your stuff.

What if I told you that it’s possible to make thousands of dollars each month from podcasting before you get a single download for you show.

Not only can your listeners become clients, but your guests can also become your clients. I go deeper in the video, but there’s a basic process to follow…

#1: Determine your customer avatar

#2: Come up with a podcast idea that allows you to regularly interview people who fit that customer avatar

#3: Promote your product or service during the interview. I always invite people to schedule a free strategy session at the end of each episode and mention it whenever I can.

Podcasting is such an amazing opportunity. While it’s possible to make money with a podcast even if you don’t get a single listener, getting listeners to your podcast gives your show more potential for impact and income.

Getting listeners allows us to see our content is making a difference and that we can turn our content into a full-time business.

So how can we get more listeners for our podcasts? Here are 3 growth strategies that work.

#1: Have A Promo Plan For All Future Episodes

Many creators make the mistake of figuring out how they’ll promote something as soon as they hit the publish button.

This results in a 10-15 minute scramble of promoting the new episode on as many places that host can think of in the moment.

Instead, you need to have a promo plan in place. A promo plan details how you promote each new piece of content you publish. On this promo plan, you should list the following:

• Which social networks you’ll use to promote the new episode
• How often you’ll promote on those social networks on the day of and for the entire week
• Long-term approach if the episode is evergreen

Know how you will promote the episode before the time comes.

#2: Sponsorship Swaps

You can get together with other podcasters and do sponsorship swaps. Basically, you promote someone else’s podcast in your episode in exchange for that host to promote your podcast.

The end result is you and the other podcaster helping each other grow. The more podcasts you partner up with, the more you’ll grow.

One concern people have is that this strategy will take listeners away from your podcast by giving them an alternative. However, there are only seven days in a week, and most podcasts come out with 1-2 new episodes per week. That’s a 5-6 day gap between episodes where your listeners will want an alternative.

They’ll listen to the other person’s podcast while they wait for you to come out with the next new episode. And the great thing is that when your listeners listen to the podcasts you’ve sponsored, they’ll think of you since you made the recommendation. Get as much head space as you can.

#3: Get On More Podcasts

If you want more listeners, go where the listeners are. Podcast listeners listen to podcasts. Getting on more podcasts puts you in front of more listeners.

Getting on other people’s podcasts is also a great business model that some people use to make thousands of dollars each month. If you want to get on more podcasts, here are some suggestions…

• Use LinkedIn and search “podcast host”
• Look for podcasts in iTunes, Spotify, and Stitcher
• When reaching out, focus on the value you can provide as a guest instead of asking to be on the show. Podcast hosts can discern whether someone wants to provide value as a guest or just wants the exposure and social cred

During the episode, mention the podcast as soon as you can. Some podcast hosts will mention your podcast in their intro, but if not, you can mention it in the response to the first question.

That’s because 99% of podcast hosts use a variation of one of the following questions as their Question #1:

• “Can you tell us a little more about yourself?”
• “Why did you get started with X?”

Perfect opportunity to mention your podcast and some of the other stuff you’re working on.

In Conclusion

Podcasting gets more popular each year. More people have been approaching me on how to launch, grow, and monetize their podcasts. If you want to chat with me about your podcast, you can schedule a free strategy call here.

Furthermore, make sure you grab your free ticket to the virtual Profitable Podcasting Summit. It’s a great event with over 20 speakers and more on the way.

What were your thoughts on these three strategies? Do you have any questions for me? Sound off in the comments below.