Whether you’re already a podcaster or planning on starting podcasts, there’s some good news. And that is, you can actually make money by podcasting. In fact, there are 10 best ways to make money from podcasting if you’re willing to make the effort.
In this article, I will discuss about how podcasts make money & how much podcasters make. However, before I begin, here are some facts and figures about podcasting.
Facts & Figures of Podcasting
A report by IAB PricewaterhouseCoopers says advertising spending on podcasts stood at $2 billion in 2024. This is expected to double to $4 billion in the next three years, or by 2024, recording a compound annual Growth Rate of 20 percent.
In 2015, only 10 percent of marketers said they were willing to advertise on a podcast over the next six months. However, in 2024, as many as 54 percent of marketers said they’re willing to advertise on podcasts.
According to a report by Forbes, the median age of podcast listeners is 34 years. This is in stark contrast to radio listeners, whose median age is 47 years and TV telecasts, 57 years.
Additionally, the percentage of monthly podcast listeners among 12-to-34 years old has grown from 27 percent in 2024 to 49 percent in 2024, adds the Forbes report.
How Do Podcasts Make Money?: 10 Ways to Monetize
As we can see from the above statistics, podcasts are growing in popularity. Part of it is also due to more and more people remaining indoors to prevent the Covid-19 pandemic, which shows no signs of abating despite most of 2021 gone behind. The other and main reason, however is that podcasts are offering varied content that suits all audiences.
Therefore, if you’re planning on starting a podcast, here’s how you could make money podcasting from this wonderful profession and passion.
1. Offer Courses
Offering educational courses or something to do with your passion and hobby is one of the best and topmost ways to make money from podcasts. Usually, podcasters provide courses about the same topic that they speak about.
If you’re adept at teaching a subject or skill, it’s possible to attract a lot of people to your courses through podcasts.
2. Provide Services
Providing various services is also possible through podcasts. However, to do so, you’ll need to be an expert in a specific field. That way, you can charge a fee for your podcasts.
Some of the hottest services nowadays are training people on how to create podcasts and how to monetize blogs or use digital marketing tools. You could provide these services for third parties, too, by tying up with them and charging a fee.
3. Sponsors and Advertising
The third yet very simple and fastest way to make money from podcasting is by getting sponsors for your podcasts and attracting ads. Usually, all podcasting platforms have their own ad and sponsorship services.
Or you can try some independent advertising and sponsorship networks such as Midroll and Authentic, among others. As the above figures show, you can make a lot of money with ads on your podcasts.
4. Consulting
Consulting services such as financial and business consultancies are in high demand all year round. You can promote some of these consultancies on your podcasts and charge a fee.
Alternatively, it’s possible to create premium content on financial advice and business consulting and charge your audiences a fee for tuning into your services.
5. Crowdfunding
As a podcaster, it is possible to ask for money to sponsor your programs. This can be done through crowdfunding. There are various crowdfunding platforms where you can raise some money for your upcoming podcasts.
However, for crowdfunding reasons, your podcasts should be about creating public awareness about something or education. Basically, crowdfunds are available when it would benefit a large group of people.
6. Premium Content
If you’re going to offer actionable content or podcasts with information that people can act upon and expect results quickly, it’s possible to make money by offering premium content.
This means your audiences will have to pay subscriptions, either one-off or on a per-podcast basis, to listen to your content. Normally, podcasts related to making money or getting some freebies can be given as premium content.
7. Events
You can promote events or offer live podcasts about various events, such as conferences and seminars, to make money. Generally, even sponsors will pay you for providing such podcasts.
Or you can sell them as premium content for interested audiences. Events are a superb way to make money from podcasting. Tie up with event management companies to provide such live or recorded podcasts.
8. Merchandise
A lot of podcasters create and sell their own merchandise, too. These include coffee mugs and cups, stickers, posters, T-shirts and other collectables that people love.
To make merchandise, you’ll need to find a supplier that charges reasonably. Advertise the merchandise through your podcasts. You’ll also require agreements with a courier company to ship your merchandise.
Additionally, you can sell merchandise of other podcasters or even sports, movie and TV stars, among other personalities.
9. Books
Books are a big business among podcasters. There are three ways to make money from podcasting through books. One is by offering podcasts where you’ll read portions of the book to your audiences.
The second is by promoting books as an affiliate marketer through your podcasts and blog. And thirdly, by providing favourable book reviews on behalf of the author and publisher.
All these three types of podcasts have a wide following. And you can monetize your podcasts easily using these three ways.
10. Public Speaking
If you’re a popular or famous podcaster, organizations and groups could invite you as a public speaker at their events. And you can charge fees per hour for speaking at such events.
This is yet another superb way to make money with podcasting because it also gives you exposure to more and more audiences, who would then tune into your podcasts. Public speaking is a big business in America.
Some podcasters make tens of thousands of Dollars every year by simply speaking in public at events.
How to Start Podcasting?
If you’re a newbie to podcasting, I would suggest you read a lot of articles on how to become a successful podcaster. Also, research into various podcasting platforms. Some offer free trials for a week where you can invite a small audience.
In Conclusion
The podcasting industry, though unorganised, is growing exponentially, as the above facts and figures prove. And the 10 best ways to make money from podcasting are time-tested and proven. Therefore, if you wish to make money from podcasting, now is the right time to begin. Select the right platform to launch you into the world of podcasting.
Ashwin (Win) Honawar is an accomplished journalist and poignant author with 33 years of experience. He is renowned for his daredevil journalism and engaging narratives that explore various facts of human life and the resilience of the human spirit.
