How to grow & monetize a podcast in 2022

As we now find ourselves in a new year, a lot of us are thinking of new ways we can grow and monetize our brands and one way a lot of folks are already doing this is through podcasting. As of April 2021, there were 48 million podcast episodes available to the world. 48 million. In this episode, I want to help you stand out from those 48 million episodes by sharing my tips on growing and monetizing your podcast in 2022. Let’s do this!

Let’s start with the obvious and chat about choosing your topic, yes … I am going to say it, your niche. Oh and just a tip, these steps are in this order for a reason. I recommend tackling these steps one at a time to find the most success for your podcast.

Choose your niche.

If you are already an established brand or business, you might already have this part determined - but if not, there are a couple of things you might want to consider.

1. What are the “hot topics” in podcasting right now?

2. Which topics provide you with the biggest chance to monetize?

3. Do you have the skills and expertise in that topic to talk about it for years?

4. And does this topic bring you joy and connect with the audience you already have or hope to build?

Let’s break these down.

What are the “hot topics” in podcasting right now?

Based on my research, here are a few topics that are currently trending right now.

1. Marketing & Business Growth

2. Mindfulness & Self-Growth

3. News & Noteworthy

4. True Crime & Murder Mystery

5. Motivation & Inspiration

Don’t let this stop you from a topic that better fits your audience, this is just to give a few ideas of the overarching topics that are getting a lot of traction from listeners currently.

Which topics provide you with the biggest chance to monetize?

Podcasts can be a great place to chat and share your thoughts, but they can also be a great source of income. If you are hoping to monetize your show, it’s important to think about how you can monetize before settling on a specific topic. Here is one way you can do this - go to iTunes, search your topic idea, and start listening to podcasts in that niche. How are they monetizing? Do they seem to be getting ad spots/brand deals on their show? Are they leveraging the platform to get sales to their products & services? Something else you can consider is affiliate marketing, which we will chat about here soon. Does the topic you are discussing provide you the opportunity to recommend products or services, so that you can provide affiliate links?

Do you have the skills and expertise in that topic to talk about it for years?

Before asking yourself this question, let’s define Imposter Syndrome. Imposter syndrome is loosely defined as doubting your abilities and feeling like a fraud. This question is NOT to make you doubt yourself but to make sure the topic you settle on is something that you have some level of skill or expertise in AND that you have the drive to keep learning and expanding those skills. When it comes to educating others, you only have to know more than the person you’re teaching. If you are past the beginner level, you can teach those beginner skills to someone who knows nothing. Once you level up from there, you can teach those who are beginners.

Does this topic bring you joy and connect with the audience you already have or hope to build?

It’s not all about what topic can make you money and what topics match your skillset, it’s also about finding a topic that brings you joy. If you select a topic that doesn’t fill your cup, you are on the fast track to burnout. Trust me. I have been there. You also want to make sure this topic fits with your current audience or the audience you’re trying to build.

The idea here is to find a balance between all of these things. Now let’s move on to preparing your show for success.

Setting up your Podcast for Success.

I know that starting a new platform can get exciting, but the idea here is to grow and monetize your show and a lot of that is in how much time you take to set your show up for success. I am going to walk you through 5 steps you should take before even scripting/outlining your first episode.

1. Hosting. Deciding where people will be consuming your content is a necessary step to the process of building a successful podcast. You can use your own website like Squarespace or WordPress OR you can use a third-party service like Simplecast or Anchor. Regardless of which direction you choose, you can connect these to all of the major podcasting services (Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Spotify) as well. You also have the option of doing a video podcast and hosting it on YouTube. Throughout 2021, we have seen more and more video podcasts - or a mixture of both video and audio. It’s never a bad thing to make your content available in more places, but this can add a bit of time to your workflow, so keep that in mind.

2. Branding. Now, again - if you already have an established business or brand, you might already have some branding. But do you have podcast artwork, an SEO-driven podcast description, and an intro/outro that can hook your audience within those first few seconds? If you truly want your podcast to be successful, these elements are key. If this scares the bejesus out of you, don’t fear - we can help. You can check out our services at www.CreatorlyMedia.com/services for the deets. Shameless plug aside, these brand elements can truly help you stand out and provide you with the professional edge you need to scale your podcast.

3. Content Calendar. You can’t just say - I am going to start a podcast and poof, all of your ideas just organize themselves. If you truly want to build a successful podcast or any social media platform, you need to have a plan. I recommend planning at least one month (or more) of podcast episode ideas. This can actually help you secure brand deals, which we will chat about soon - but it will also help you be more organized and have a roadmap for your show. There are many different platforms you can use to plan your content, even good ole pen, and paper. We recommend (and use) Notion for all of our content planning. You can actually grab our free Notion Content Calendar Template if you want to have a starting point to creating a plan for the next month.

4. Templates. That’s right, create your own templates. If you want to streamline your workflow and help set you up for sustaining your podcast - you need to create templates out of everything you can. I would start by creating a script/outline template so that when you’re ready to start writing your script, you have the structure ready to go. I also recommend creating templates of any social media assets you plan to make for each of your episodes. If you plan on making an Instagram post or story each time you publish a new podcast episode, have a few templates ready to go and organized, so it makes everything quick, easy, and consistent! You can simply use Canva for these.

5. Monetization Strategy. We will get into different ways to monetize later in this episode, but developing your strategy from the beginning is key. You want to make sure you have a plan in place so that you can set up every episode for success, even if you’re just starting out.

Now that you have things set up and prepared, you’re ALMOST ready to start creating… but you can’t really create a podcast without the proper equipment, amiright? Let’s chat about the different products you might need to create a high-quality podcast episode.

Podcast Equipment & Software.

If you are planning on doing a video podcast, you have to think beyond just audio and actually have to consider your video quality as well. When it comes to video, using your smartphone is always an option. Some newer smartphone cameras have equal to or even higher quality than a lot of camera options out there - so it’s definitely an option if you’re just starting out. If you are wanting to invest in a camera, I would recommend getting the Sony Alpha A6600 Mirrorless Camera, which has stellar quality.

For audio, you can actually use your phone for the audio as well, but it would be a bit challenging to use your phone for both the video and audio. If you’re using it for audio-only, you will want to find a small, soft place to record. Your closet would be a perfect place to try, it’s a small area and due to the clothing hanging around you, it could help prevent an echo. I would also recommend holding your phone away and to the side to avoid that popping sound you might get if the microphone is too close to your mouth. As you can probably see - this wouldn’t capture a great video, unless you’re going for a mysterious, closet podcaster vibe.

If you want to upgrade your audio, you can create a mini-podcast studio using a microphone and recorder. The system I recommend is the Zoom H5 Recorder, paired with an XLR Microphone. Using a system like this is super beneficial if you are recording multiple people, this would definitely be the best choice for someone doing in-person interviews. One thing to keep in mind is that this is definitely an investment and not the best option for online interviews.

Now, recording your podcast on your computer, along with a USB microphone is probably the most common option - I recommend the Blue Yeti or FiFine. This method is great because the audio file is already on your computer and it’s super easy to set up. All you need to do is plug your microphone into your computer and start recording using whatever platform fits your needs; Quicktime, Zoom, etc. This is great for doing online interviews and it’s more affordable than using a microphone and recorder - however; this wouldn’t be a great choice for in-person interviews.

Once you finally have your podcast recorder, it’s time to edit. Let’s chat about editing and how to make your podcast sound smooth as butter.

Podcast Editing

There are a few options when it comes to editing. You can edit using regular video/audio editing software (like Adobe Premiere Pro), a podcast-specific editing platform (like Podcastle or Audacity), or outsource (like through a company like mine, where we offer podcast editing services).

If you do decide to edit yourself, here are things you should keep in mind when you’re editing your podcast.

1. Level the volume. You want to make sure all of the audio used in your podcast matches. For example, you want to make sure your intro/outro volume matches your episode audio. You also want to make sure any ad breaks match as well, you don’t want someone to mute or turn the volume down during your ad break due to the volume being too loud. You will also need to be mindful of this if you are doing interview-style interviews.

2. Remove background noise. This is something you need to be mindful of during the recording stage of your podcast, but it’s also something that can be managed if needed during editing. If you are using a podcast editing platform like Podcastle, they do have a tool that can help you with this. Background noise can be a bit distracting and even be a reason someone stops listening to your podcast, so do your best to manage the background noise.

3. Eliminate dead space and ums. On your first pass-through during editing, you will want to remove all of the headspaces and ums, uhs, etc. This can make a podcast so much longer than it needs to be and overall make your show seem unpolished and unprofessional.

4. Cut the fluff. Podcasts can be a fun way to express your thoughts, but sometimes we just keep going and going and going ... and well, you get the point. When you’re listening to your podcast during editing, are there parts that seem a bit off-topic, maybe a bit boring? Is that section bringing value? If not, cut it out.

5. Add royalty-free music. If you truly want your podcast to feel complete, adding some music at the beginning and end - can be a great way to take your podcast to the next level. This might be in the form of an intro and outro or the music can stand on its own.

Now that you have completed all of the above steps. How can we turn this show into a source of income? How can we monetize it?

Monetize your Podcast.

Now that you have established your podcast identity, set yourself up for success, and recorded & edited some episodes. Let’s talk about monetization. Earlier in this episode, I mentioned that creating a monetization strategy would help set you up for success. Here is are the various ways you can monetize your podcast and develop a strategy that will work for your brand.

1. Affiliate Marketing. I am starting with this revenue stream for a reason, and that is because you can get started with this method today - even if you haven’t started your podcast. If you are unfamiliar with affiliate marketing, this is when you as the creator recommend products or services you love and by sharing these products or services, you get a small commission. This allows businesses or brands to leverage your audience to share their offerings. This is great for a podcast because you can recommend products and services you already love and use with your audience, and if they feel like this would benefit them and they use your link to make the purchase - you would get a small commission. A fellow YouTuber, Cathrin Manning, recently mentioned that she was able to make over $12,000 in March of 2021 - just from affiliate marketing. Now, she accomplished this by using her YouTube channel that already has an existing audience - but you can use this same strategy for your Podcast as well. Adding this to your strategy now, because you ever click record, can make sure if your podcast ends up growing - you have planted these seeds from the very beginning.

2. Brand Deals/Ad Slots. This is probably one of the more common ways to build an income on Podcasts but isn’t usually something you can start right away. Most brands will only pay you if you have already built an audience - so in the beginning, make sure you’re treating your Podcast as a resume. You want to make sure you are building a target audience so that when you are able to reach out to brands (or they reach out to you), you have built an audience that fits their consumers. If you would like an episode where I talk about my experience with doing brand partnerships on Podcasts, let me know. I would be happy to provide insight on how to secure brand deals and how the entire process works.

3. Products & Services. Finally, one way you can monetize your podcast is by creating and marketing your own products and services. If you want to create and offer a digital product or even merch, you can naturally mention these offerings in your podcast over time and eventually, as your podcast picks up - so will your sales. Again, this is something I would start doing from the very beginning. You might now be getting a lot of listeners on your podcast now, but what if your show blows up a month from now? If you already started mentioning your products and services, these sales might blow up too!

If you have already started your Podcast and you’re feeling stuck, my social media agency - Creatorly Media, does offer a Podcast Audit service, which will provide you with an in-depth analysis of your Podcast and a plan for marketing your podcast in the future. You can find this here!

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