Can I Make Money Podcasting?

Podcasting is a long game.

If you don’t already have the number of clients you want to be able to reach your financial goals, a podcast might not be right for you. It involves long-term strategy and planning and is not a get-rich-quick and get-clients-now scheme. Podcasting can make you money, but using myself as an example, I’ve been host of the She Built This podcast since 2019 and the very first time I got a listener to buy a product or service from me was at the end of 2020. 

Podcasting requires you to build the know, like, and trust with your listeners. While it might happen in some cases, they’re not usually becoming instant best friends with you and handing over their hard-earned dollars to work with you. 

Podcasting involves a significant TIME commitment.

Here are some basic podcast tasks I perform on a regular basis: 

• Finding podcasts guests
• Contacting guests and coordinating a time to meet
• Researching my guests and preparing my interview questions
• Confirming times and sometimes rescheduling with guests 
• Editing
• Publishing
• Writing show notes
• Creating graphics 
• Scheduling social media posts 
• Creating emails and blogs based around themes of the episode 
• Preparing solocast episodes with just me
• And more (example: I always go the extra mile with things like writing thank you cards and LinkedIn recommendations for my guests). 

There’s a lot to consider before getting started and launching your podcast, and I want to help you analyze for yourself whether or not you should start a podcast so that you’re not stuck committed to something you don’t enjoy. 

My best tip for starting a podcast is not to make this decision overnight. There are tons of courses and trainings out there telling you “how to launch a podcast within 24 hours” showing you ways to consider using podcasting to make you money.

While it may be possible to get this thing up and running faster than a cheetah, I recommend you give yourself more time than that. You’ll want to use that time to do market research, set yourself up for success with a content plan, and think about how to set yourself apart. 

If I could go back and do it all over again, I would’ve spent more time in the pre-launch phase so I could hit the ground running with a solid plan and strategy. Otherwise, you end up spending a lot of time throwing spaghetti at the proverbial wall and hoping it sticks. 

Want more tips for starting a podcast? Let’s chat about your ideas! I can help you strategize content ideas and think through what to consider before starting!

Can I Make Money Podcasting Guesting?

YES!

Ok, so maybe you’ve decided that starting a podcast isn’t for you, yet. You can still make money podcasting by being a guest on other podcasts. 

If you already have a podcast, being a guest on a podcast can help to build that know, like, and trust factor with like-minded listeners of other hosts. An average podcast listener will listen to more than seven shows a week and subscribe to about six. A really avid podcast listener, or an outright addict like me, will listen to far more than that. When a podcaster I love shares a great guest, chances are pretty high that if they have a show, product, freebie, email list, etc., I’ll check that out too! 

It’s a great strategy to get in front of new audiences and can open up a world of possibilities and future speaking engagements. 

Tips for Podcast Guests

• When pitching, do your research: My biggest pet peeve is when I get a podcast pitch that has nothing to do with my show at all and everything to do with the potential guest. It reminds me of the “Look What I Can Do” sketch on SNL. Super funny for SNL, but not a good pitching strategy.
• Follow the instructions: Make sure you show up on time and follow the podcast host’s instructions. Some have a form to fill out for your pitch, bio, headshot, etc. Others use email correspondence. Some are on Zoom, Zencastr, and Riverside and may require certain browsers and tech. Make sure you read what the podcaster is asking you to do and be a respectful podcast guest.
• Provide value: Even if you give someone A LOT of your framework and deliver a ton of content that you deem precious and signature, listeners will still sign up to work with you, read your book, and get additional support from you. A big mistake I see is when people say yes to podcast guesting and then dance around their topic area without actually delivering any valuable content. Don’t dance circles around your tips and strategies, share your expertise generously! 
• Invest in a quality mic: Bad audio is a huge turnoff to any serious podcast listener. As a host, I get frustrated when my guests record in echoey rooms with their MacBook Air microphones, and as a listener, I get really distracted by bad audio and sound disruptions. I use this mic, which you can grab for a song and a dance on Amazon. Don’t distract your listeners from the valuable content you’re providing with bad audio.

A Few Tips for Podcast Hosts

Since this blog is all about answering, “Can I money podcasting?” I’d be remiss if I didn’t touch on a few key points for podcast hosts as well that will help you convert your listeners to leads faster and with more ease!

• Make sure you have a solid content plan: I knowwwww you like to go with the flow. I do too. I have a creative brain and I’m always coming up with new ideas and epiphanies. This is exactly why a content plan helps me so much. It helps my podcast stay cohesive, focused, and in line with all my other content. I use my episodes to inform my emails, blogs, social media posts, and more! I’m typically mapping out content and what my calls to action will be from each episode months in advance. 
• Don’t be afraid to make the ask: It took me nearly two and a half years of podcasting to introduce myself in a way that clearly explained what I did so my listeners could work with me. Then it took even longer to actually say, “Hey, I have a resource for you if you want it!” If you want to make money with your podcast, you have to share about your products and services and you have to tell your listeners how to take the next steps to work with you. 
• Don’t distract your listeners: Your listeners are going to stay loyal to you if you continue showing up with valuable content, great audio quality, and aligned guests. Don’t veer them off track with extensive side stories or unrelated tangents. Poor audio quality, a lot of noise in the background, dropping things, or coughing into the mic can be extremely off-putting to a listener.  
• Show notes can be a superpower: The magic is in the show notes. The show notes are a spot for your listeners to find all those links to take action when they forget what you said in the episode and they’re super helpful for YOU if you use them as an add-on to your SEO strategy. They also provide backlinks to your guest’s websites and can be a shortcut to guide people to other episodes and more of your content. 

My experience as a podcast guest and host

I’ve got more tips and such for ya’, but I saved those for this blog. I hope this helped you understand a little bit more about how you can make money podcasting, both as a guest and a host, and some things to think about when considering podcast guesting or starting one of your own. 

My own experience as a podcast guest has been incredible, I’ve connected with other podcast hosts, gained more visibility, and built my credibility with new audiences.

I wouldn’t trade the experience of being a podcast host either!

There are rewards far outside the monetary ones, for me. I get a chance to create something bigger than myself, have amazing conversations with inspiring people, and bring resources and positivity to my listeners. There’s nothing more rewarding than when someone sends me an epiphany they had from a recent episode or shares their common experience with me.