Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Can you make money with a podcast?

  The short answer is "yes."  I will confess that I am no expert.  I have never made a podcast, and I haven't even listened to many.  However, this blog is all about learning to blog, and podcasts can be part of a blog's scope.  The idea of podcasting is quite intriguing to me, and so I've been doing some research, in hopes that I will someday create a podcast, likely as part of this website.  I would like to do it not to make money, but to learn about it, as is the focus of this blog.  Stay tuned for a podcast. 

I was actually going running with a friend, and the podcast/money question came up.  He has listened to hundreds of podcasts, and did not think that podcasts make money.  My research has shown that it is possible.

But how does a podcast make money?   


from http://www.flickr.com/photos/abletoven/3223086466/#/

Before we answer this question, think about how similar broadcasting venues make money. 

Television and Radio make money from advertising and subscriptions.  



Why would podcasting be any different?  Or newspaper, for that matter?

People are willing to advertise with these types of media because they have a larger audience or at least a potentially large audience.  The larger the audience, the more they can make from advertising.  That is why ratings are important; they dictate how much revenue they can make from commercials. 

Some television networks get a piece of the pie when people subscribe to cable, for instance.  This is the "subscription" part of the equation.


Podcasting can make money from:
  •  advertising
  •  charging for the podcast
  • donations
  • driving people back to a monetized blog or website
Here is an excellent article on 9 ways in which people can make money with their podcasts.  Basically, most of the ways are variations of advertising or subscriptions. 

http://mashable.com/2009/10/01/podcast-money-making-tips/

1 comment:

  1. Interesting post. Reading time is short for me today, but I more likely would have clicked on the linked article if there had been an introductory excerpt. A portion "quoted" in your post that would give a sense of the article.

    To answer a question brought to mind: No, I do not regularly purchase podcasts. With that disclosure made, I will also say that indeed there is a lot of content that would be interesting/efficient to consume via audio capable devices; mp3 player, iPad, smart phone, etc.

    Music, and programming that includes music, seems a natural thing to podcast -- and talk radio, and audiobooks

    ...

    ReplyDelete