Adam Shepherd gives a tip about monetising your podcast

My colleague and I wanted to start a podcast for the brand that we worked on, but there was no budget for that. Uh, so I basically nagged the business into setting up a podcast network with centralised support and backing, essentially so that we didn't have to pay for any of the hosting ourselves. So after that, we spent several years making podcasts and I sort of accidentally became one of the go to people for podcasting and podcast questions within the company.

Uh, kind of through no conscious effort on there on my part. So one thing that I love about podcasting is the diversity of different styles, different approaches, and different sort of ideas. It is a hotbed of relentless creativity. And what I find really refreshing is that you can find a podcast for absolutely any sort of niche or interest or specialty. There will be at least one podcast, probably multiple catering to that. And often in vastly different ways and different styles.

It really is so sort of rich in terms of that diversity and in terms of that sort of breadth of content. And it means that there's so much room for experimentation for those of us that are actually creating podcasts. You know, there is no right way to make a podcast and the, the freedom and the flexibility that gives one as a creator is absolutely fabulous, I think. So my big tip is around podcast monetisation.

And I think for most of us in podcasting, particularly in the sort of independent space, it's very tempting to feel like we don't meet the threshold for monetisation. You know, we don't have enough listeners. We're not famous enough. We're not polished enough. The show isn't good enough. And that eventually, if we keep working and keep making it better, then eventually we'll get to this invisible line where we'll be worthy of monetisation. And that's simply not the case.

You can monetise a show at any level of listenership. And some of the most effective ways to do that are through effectively non podcast means. A lot of podcasters have experimented with things like subscription models through platforms like Patreon or SupportingCast, which has been very effective, particularly for smaller shows who have built up a dedicated core audience.

There's a quote by the comedian Stuart Lee that gets thrown around a lot in relation to this conversation, which to paraphrase is essentially, 'you only need to have around a hundred people giving you, I think, five or ten pounds a month, and that is a sustainable career'. And the same is true in podcasting. You don't need a large audience. You need an audience that contributes regularly and engages with you regularly. And that can be the basis for a sustainable financial model.

And then you bolt onto that, things like live events. And again, you only need 20 people, let's say, in a room that are willing to pay to be there and to come and see you. And from there, that makes it a lot easier to reach out to advertisers and say, 'hey, look, I have this engaged audience who are willing to, you know, pay money, leave the house and come and see and engage with my podcast live.

Would you like to be part of that?' And reaching out to advertisers on a proactive basis can be super, super effective. Particularly smaller advertisers and smaller companies. You know, reach out to businesses in your local area. You don't have to ask for much. And if you're not asking for much, then you've got a much bigger chance of finding someone willing to sponsor.

And from there, you can build that out and staircase out your revenue strategy until you're reaching sort of the financial goals that you've set for yourself. You can find more from me and more about the British Podcast Awards at britishpodcastawards.uk and you can see all of my links in the show notes. Thank you so much for listening to podcasting people.