3 Proven Ways to Grow and Monetize Your Podcast

3 Proven Ways to Grow and Monetize Your Podcast

Traci DeForge: [00:00:00] You’re gonna wanna stick around to the end, and here’s why. Because monetization is the bonus tip. I’m g- just gonna go ahead and give that to you right now. So let’s start with the three most powerful ways to grow your show, and you’re gonna be surprised because they’re really, really simple, too.

This is the Growth Accelerator Podcast.

Now your host, Tracy Deforge.

Traci DeForge: I’m glad you showed up here today, because we are gonna talk about three seriously powerful ways to grow your podcast, whether it’s a new podcast or whether it’s been around for a while and just needs a little bit of a facelift. So number one is, as a host, if you’re not using storytelling in the way you present your content, then you’re really missing out.

Or actually, your audience is really missing out, because that is one of the most interesting things you can do as a host. But it also opens up [00:01:00] opportunities for your audience to really connect with you and get to know you. Here’s a moment from my conversation with Jason, host of the Smart Agency Masterclass, about why storytelling really matters.

Jason Swenk: It’s what the power of

Traci DeForge: podcasting is all about, which is the storytelling piece. And if you, even if you’re not a natural storyteller, if you can just identify two or three that you feel comfortable with, that are natural for you to share, and you can integrate those into the conversation in a way that’s not staged or phony, people like to hear stories.

And especially for you, if they’re success stories, then that does set up this ability for you to have a like-minded connection with, with either a pain point that someone’s experiencing that they need a solution for or an aspirational goal that they want to meet, but they’re just not 100% sure either that they have the blueprint for how to get there or, even more importantly, they may be striving for that blueprint, but they’re still on the fence of whether or not [00:02:00] you’re the right person.

Number two is all about discoverability. People can’t listen to

Traci DeForge: your amazing stories that you’re telling if they can’t find your show. So Jason and I get really specific about why it’s important not to just set and forget the foundational pieces of your podcast.

Jason Swenk: For the ones that have a podcast for a while, and they feel like they’ve plateaued, what are some things that they could do in order to kind of really energize that show?

Traci DeForge: Yes, I love this question because it’s probably not what you’re expecting for me to a- how, how I will answer it is probably not what you’re expecting. If your show has plateaued, the very first thing that you need to do is dig into the discoverability foundational pieces. So when we do podcast audits, for example, yes, we’re gonna look at your format, we’re gonna look at your production value and the s- quality, uh, production quality value.

That’s one piece of it. But [00:03:00] we spend a third of the time that we, building these audits, we spend all of that time looking at how people are discovering your show, but not in the way that you might think. We are looking at it as if we wanted to find a podcast about agency masterminds. We w- if, if I’m a person who’s looking for an expert in b- building and scaling an agency, if I’m a person who want- who’s looking for the kind of content that you provide, I wanna know how your podcast is showing up.

That’s, that’s the angle that we will take first. So we will look at how it’s being discovered by people who are searching for the content, because you’re never gonna grow your audience. You may sustain your audience, but you’ve got to grow it and put it in front of new people, because they need to be able to find you.

And there are certain, certain strategic things like the way your show is named and how many characters in your show description, down to what your podcast platform, how your podcast platform is ben- the benefits. Are you utilizing all them? [00:04:00] Are they even there for you? And if they are, are you utilizing all them?

So that discoverability piece and that metadata piece, that’s very, very important if a show is stagnating. There are shows that launched during the pandemic when it was a bit of a frenzy and a free-for-all, but they overlooked the foundational growth pieces because they either didn’t know them or they didn’t work with an expert to help them set them up in- You know-

from the beginning in the right way. So that’s

Jason Swenk: the- So potentially you’ve maybe only posted to iTunes, and you haven’t posted it to iHeart or S- Spotify, right? Yeah. Well,

Traci DeForge: I mean, we’ve had crazy examples. Like, we’ve done an audit for a show, and they weren’t even showing up on Apple Podcasts, and when we dug into it and we were like, “Why?”

They were like, “Oh, well, when we started the show, we c- didn’t know how to get approval on Apple, so we just never did it, and then we forgot.” And then that’s, and that’s… I’m not judging this person, I’m just saying it happens. Like, it was a frenzy and, and- Oh, it’s common … and it’s not- Happens all the time.

And right. And so k- like, I get to look like a genius in some of these scenarios when I [00:05:00] do this audit presentation, and some of it’s just crossing T’s and dotting I’s that you didn’t even know were in the word in the first place. Number three: be a guest on other podcasts with like-minded audiences. It’s a perfect way to introduce you and your podcast to people who are searching and consuming the content that you’re providing, and Google really likes it.

Jason Swenk: They started doing a podcast and were generating so much business from it. As like I told you. But for those people that are gonna, you know, not do it right away, but that are actually going to start try- getting on other people’s shows, how can they, s- since it’s gonna be the first couple, what are some things they need to do to be prepared and to be the best guest where they provide, you know, great value to the, the, the show, but also it drives business to them?

Traci DeForge: Right. So initially, in order to [00:06:00] show up and be a great guest for the show, it’s not all that different than what we were talking about in terms of pitching the show. But you want to have listened to some episodes before. You want to really be prepared for how a host opens a show. For example, if you have a unique way of opening your show, you don’t want to be caught off-guard by that.

Like, for example, I listened to multiple episodes that you, um, have released, and I knew that the first question you were gonna ask me was the first question that you asked me, because that’s a very consistent way that you open your show. I was prepared for that answer. If you always end your show in a s- in a certain way by asking rapid-fire questions or a, a, two or three very specific questions that you consistently ask in every episode, then that’s something that a guest would wanna know in advance so that they’re not caught off-guard and they can come and be their best selves.

But as you also indicated, it is a great opportunity as a strategic sho- as a strategic source, let me say that three times really fast. A strategic- I have, I

Jason Swenk: have the [00:07:00] same… I, I couldn’t do that either. I, I,

Traci DeForge: uh, tripped over my words … strategic source of revenue, but it’s such a great thing to say, strategic source of revenue.

Um, you want to be sure that you’re also being able to come across to the audience without it being an infomercial. You wanna share education, you wanna share in- inspiration, you wanna share s- really relevant information about you and your business, but not in a way that’s gonna be an entire conversation around a sales pitch for you and your business.

Thanks for hanging around for the bonus tip, and here it is. Monetization

Traci DeForge: can come in many different forms. It can come as you are guesting on those podcasts. You can drive traffic to your podcast, your website, your s- your offers. It can come out of your storytelling. You can use client success stories as part of your storytelling.

And of course, your audience size is quality over quantity, and you can monetize with

Jason Swenk: [00:08:00] any size audience. And Jason and I, we bust this myth wide open in this

clip.

Traci DeForge: We get a lot, a lot of questions around, can I monetize my show before it launches? Can I monetize my show if I have less than 1,000 downloads?

Um, do I have to have 10,000 downloads to get, um, brands and sponsors to buy into my show? And so the only answer that’s no to any of those that I just listed off is that you don’t have to have 10,000 downloads per episodes for brands and sponsors to be interested in your show. And I really encourage people to think as they’re developing their show, especially if, if it’s a business-focused show, that you wanna utilize I really encourage you to think through what type of content you’re putting out there and how, and what kind of brands would want to be aligned with you and work with you in kind of a win-win between the host, the audience, and the brand.

Because we have seen really successful monetization [00:09:00] strategies pre-launch. We have seen really successful monetization strategies for people whose, um, geographic target for their podcast is very limited due to, like, a legal podcast, for example, that is only licensed to a certain geographic area, or a design business that’s main customer base is in essentially in their backyard.

So just, those limitations are myths, and it’s just really about how to think through the strategy and implement the strategy so that you can grow your show, not only through the audience building aspects, but also through the monetization pieces. And I- that’s, that’s a really big passion point for me right now.

The big brands are absolutely showing up in the space, and that’s great. That’s really great. But they are … The 10,000 downloads per episode are fantastic for a cost per thousand dynamic ad insertion. But what about the podcasts that are 9,999 or less ? There are a lot of, there are a lot of possibilities there, and I just encourage people to

Jason Swenk: not [00:10:00] give up before the miracle happens.

Traci DeForge: If you’re struggling with any of the strategies we talked about on today’s episode, I encourage you to go to ProduceYourPodcast.com and connect with me, connect with our team. We are here to support you. We want to help you grow your show.

Voice Over: Congratulations. You’re on your way to turning your business or company’s podcast into a thriving lead generation and marketing force.

Connect with us and schedule a meeting with our team at ProduceYourPodcast.com. Launch or grow your podcast and start generating more visibility, leads and sales for your business today.

Traci DeForge: Let’s get started