How To Start and Monetize a Podcast: A Step-by-Step Guide

The podcasting market reached $21.4 billion in 2022 and could soar to $233.9 billion by 2032, according to a recent market research report published by Market.US. Unlike the radio shows that preceded them, listeners can hear podcasts on demand, from anywhere in the world, which exposes podcasters to a global market from day one. While it takes time and effort to make money from a podcast, starting one is easy — all you need is some basic equipment and a quiet place to record your shows.

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What Is a Podcast?

A podcast is an episodic audio — or, less commonly, video — program that listeners download or stream to their phone, tablet, computer or other device. Listeners find podcasts on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and Buzzsprout, which typically offer them for free.

Most podcasts are interview shows. News and politics are the most popular topics, but society and culture, comedy and sports podcasts also have significant market share, according to the Market.US study. That said, there’s no limit to the topics a podcast might cover or the formats it might use to connect with its audience.

Why Make a Podcast?

Podcasters have any number of reasons for starting their shows. They may want to share their passion about a certain subject, build a brand or establish themselves as thought leaders in a particular industry. Businesses use podcasts as a content marketing tool to engage with their audience and promote their products or services.

Podcasts provide marketers with a unique opportunity to stand out in a crowded digital space, said Neal Schaffer, founder of digital marketing consultancy PDCA Social and a Rutgers Business School instructor, on NealSchaffer.com. While millions of podcasts have been published — Apple Podcasts lists nearly 2.5 million — they amount to just 0.1% of the number of blogs that exist. And only 20% of them are active, with episode drops at least every 90 days. “This simply means that the chances of being found and making connections are high!” Schaffer noted.

How To Start a Podcast

You can be up and running with a podcast on the same day you decide to start one, but you’re unlikely to generate income from a slapped-together show. You’ll have a much better chance of making money if you develop your podcast methodically. Here’s how to do it in eight steps.

1. Decide What the Podcast Will Be About

Spotify recommends thinking about what topics you love to talk about and perhaps taking inspiration from podcasts you listen to. Although you likely want it to appeal to a specific audience, it’s also important to keep the topic broad enough that you won’t run out of show topics.

2. Name Your Podcast

Make the name relevant to your content, and limit it to a few words.

3. Set Up a Studio

All you need to start is a quiet place and a phone or device with built-in audio recording capabilities. However, a quality microphone produces a more professional sound. You’ll also need editing software such as Audacity or GarageBand, which are available for free.

4. Select a Show Format

You can go solo, speaking from a script, banter with a co-host or interview interesting people with a connection to your topic. Other potential formats include fiction, narrative nonfiction, reformatted written or video content you’ve previously created — or an experimental format devised from your own creative mind — according to Spotify.

5. Choose a Hosting Platform

The hosting platform is the place to which you upload your podcast so that listeners can find it. Features vary from one to another, so look for one that provides analytics you can use to track your podcast’s performance and distributes your podcast to Apple Podcasts and other major platforms. Prices start at less than $10 per month.

6. Plan Your First Show

Write the script, if you’re working alone, or jot down some points to cover with a co-host. If you’re using an interview format, reach out to guests with a general outline of what you’d like to discuss.

7. Record Your Show

Once you’ve finished recording, write show notes describing the episode, guests and what you discussed.

8. Upload the Show

Upload your finished show to your preferred platform.

How To Make Money From a Podcast

Creating and uploading your podcast is just the beginning. Now you need to monetize it. Do it right, and your show could be the next “My Favorite Murder,” which gets 35 million downloads per month and turned creators Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark into multimillionaires, Forbes reported.

Affiliate Marketing

Podcasters who promote other businesses’ products or services can earn a commission for every sale that results. Once you’ve struck a deal with the business, you receive a code or link you can share with your listeners. When a listener uses the code or link and makes a purchase from the business’s site, you get paid for the referral. This is an easy way for new podcasters to earn money from their show, and it’s a potentially lucrative one. Thirty-eight percent of listeners report purchasing things that have been mentioned in a podcast, according to Schaffer.

Sell Advertising on Your Show

Sponsorships can generate significant ad revenue for your podcast. You can play your sponsors’ recorded ads or read the ad copy yourself during your podcast. An advertising network can find sponsors for you for a cut of the ad revenue, according to the inbound marketing company HubSpot.

Sponsor a Podcast

If you know of a podcast whose target audience is similar to yours, you can charge a fee to promote it on your show.

Create a Subscription Program for Premium Content

Your podcast can serve as a funnel for a subscription program that charges listeners a fee for access to premium content and other perks. Subscriber benefits might include expanded episodes, subscriber-only content and access to a Facebook or other community created around your podcast.

Add Video

Adding video to your podcast can widen your audience and increase your earnings by leaps and bounds. Just film yourself doing the podcast and then upload the video to YouTube. Once you’re publishing on YouTube regularly and have reached 500 subscribers, you can monetize your videos.

Is It Easy To Make Money From Podcasts in 2023?

There’s no such thing as easy money in podcasting. It takes a lot of high-quality content, released on a regular publication schedule, to attract the listenership you need to generate income. But once you’ve done that, advertising alone can bring in $20 to $100 per episode for every 1,000 followers you have, according to the podcasting platform Riverside. Add a few monetization strategies to that, and you could earn good money, if not easy money, from your show.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: How To Start and Monetize a Podcast: A Step-by-Step Guide