Seven Figure Podcasters
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Words Matter: Income vs Profit
I keep seeing an ad for a person who claims he can turn you into a “Seven figure podcaster.” This reminds me of an old Steve Martin joke, “You can be a millionaire and not pay taxes.” He said, “Step one, get a million dollars.”
So sure, there are people that bring in seven figures. The point they never tell you is the also spend a seven figures. What counts is the profit.
Are You Targeting The Right Audience?
I was speaking with a podcast consultant at the Empowered Podcasting Conference. They explained that they only take on clients who are using their podcast to promote their products and services.
Why? Because podcasters making seven figures using only programmatic ads, are very few and far in between. Compare that to someone doing a hyper local show where they are not only the host, but the main sponsor as they talk about selling you a house. If they get a few real estate sales a year, they have a “seven figure podcast.”
And yes, the coach will say, “I have a few podcasters who are making seven figures with their show.” They aren’t lying.
But the newbie podcaster might think the income is from ads alone (because they don’t know any better). It’s coming from their business, and the podcast is just really good marketing disguised as a show.
You Don’t Monetize a Podcast - You Monetize an Audience
So here you are. You want to start a podcast, get some ads, and quit your day job. You see things where you can keep 70% of the income from ads (but the hosting company doesn’t mention you need to hit a threshold to keep 70%, and many podcasters don’t).
I love that Libsyn’s ad calculator uses the “industry standard” of $25 CPM, and yet I’ve never met any podcaster making $25 cpm (and I’ve met quite a few).
Also just because you qualify for ads doesn’t mean you will have an ad in every open slot. There is a thing called “Fill rate” and if you want quality, relevant ads, the chance of having 100% fill rate may not be great.
With this in mind, if I had 200 downloads an episode, and put 2 ads into each episode, I would make $1 per episode at $5 cpm (and my last CPM from Libsyn calculated to $1/cpm).
So if your goal income via ads, ads, and more ads, your first goal is to get an audience. A very large audience.
I’m Still a Third Grader Tangent
If you say Libsyn Ads quickly, it sounds like you’re saying Libsyn Nads…
So I Know Why Most Podcasters Quit Before Episode 10
Most podcasters think they can start a podcast, get ads, and retire in six months. That might happen .0001 percent of the time. The attitude and expectations need to change.
I’m working on Monday’s School of Podcasting which will talk about “Growing Your Audience” but more importantly it’s about growing your connection. Because when people feel connected to you, they will be much more willing to buy from you, and support you.
It’s not about the download. It’s about the connection
(and you’re not going to connect with a script from your favorite AI tool, everyone can smell that a mile away).
Podcast not growing as fast as you want? I’ve repackaged the “Podcast Hot Seat" (including a price change) and made it more ala cart. We all miss our own mistakes because we are too close to the content. Pull your car into the podcast garage, and let me take a peak at it. See www.fixmypodcast.com
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My Latest Content
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Your Podcast Consultant (follow)
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Tracking What Works
While I LOVE Switchy as a link shortener/tracker ($39 one time payment), but if you need free, I’ve been playing with short.io and you can start tracking items for free (and the paid plans starting at $5/month). I’ll be talking about using link trackers in the future.
This Created a Brain Freeze
I love Amala’s channel. It appeals to my logical brain. Watching this video, my logical brain locked up. I’m always open to other opinions, but I just couldn’t wrap my head around this…
Has it Been a Year Already?
It’s been 25 years since 9/11. It’s been one year since Charlie Kirk was assassinated (and people are celebrating on the anniversary which makes me sad). But more importantly for me, is I’m going to my first Podcast Movement where Todd Cochrane won’t be there as it’s been a year since Todd passed away. It just won’t be the same.
What’s Coming In The Future
I’m so excited for Monday’s show. You saw a glimpse of it today, but I’ll be talking about making connection in regards to growing your show. Follow the show.
Need Help With Your Podcast?
Whether you’re just starting or a seasoned podcaster, the School of Podcasting can help. Helping podcasters is what I do, and I’ve been doing it since 2005
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