One business strategy that seems to be growing even more in popularity is podcasting. Interviewing experts, posting the interviews on your website, and providing other men and women in your niche with tons of quality content for free is a sure way to create truly loyal fans that will without a doubt be very appreciative. The challenge is money. How do you monetize this strategy? Below are some tips from David Garland (of RiseToTheTop.com) on how to do just that.
Sell Sponsorships: A company will pay you monthly to promote them. That is basically what a sponsorship is all about. For those just starting out this option is going to be extremely challenging.
The trick to getting a sponsor is showing that you are the real deal, which essentially means consistently good content that is engaging. For example, a sponsor will not take a look at five fantastic interviews and invest in you. They will go off of name recognition in your niche, and they will make sure you have about 50 good interviews.
Watching 5 or skimming through 5 would just be a precautionary move after checking all this. Try to show that you are consistent and that you are determined to do this for an extended period of time. You do not have to be deadly serious all the time just don’t act as if your actions are short-term or not worth your time in some way.
10,000-20,000 views each month is another basic requirement if you are looking to be sponsored by a company.
The con to the sponsor strategy is once again the time it takes to get one and make use of it.“Monetary sense” is the phrase that David uses to describe the act of successfully selling a sponsorship and making it worth your time and effort. In other words, two years for a good return on your investment.
A pro to getting a sponsorship is that you are guaranteed the previously mentioned monthly income even if the sponsor does not necessarily benefit from their involvement with you. The catch to this is the rules are for the most part set by the sponsor.
They can tell what you can and cannot say in the interview. Another downside that you likely saw coming a mile away is the month-to-month payment is only month-to-month. So the sponsor can pull out, and you suddenly lose a large chunk of your income.
Finding sponsors is not necessarily a hard task. Look at other sponsored content in your niche, research, and then proceed to show them that you are an asset. You can even look a little outside your niche and perhaps pull some sponsors that are not currently involved in your exact profession. Just keep in mind that the sponsor needs to have a clear understanding of your audience.
Next is the “self-promoting” aspect. Interviewing people is perfect for building a following, but you should always have other things going on in the background. For example, a book, speaking engagements, coaching, etc…
Push all of that suddenly, and you can expect to get some attention immediately. As you grow the stuff in the background making you a little bit of money can become huge.
Benefits of promoting your own products are:
– You are creating your own customer base
– As you grow your income grows
– You are in 100% control of your content
– Sponsors do not own you
– Marketing is much easier & adaptable
– Your income potential is limitless
A prime example of some of the mentioned points above is charging your subscribers for access to past interviews. Think of them as membership fees with incentives for those who subscribe for longer periods of time. Keep interviews public for two weeks.
Since you are doing interviews, you should be passionate and knowledgeable about the topic at hand a good majority of the time. By doing that and adding in other outside benefits for those that have an interest in you or think they have something to gain from you, the interviews become a method of opening the door for consistent money as well as potentially new levels of income.
In other words, use the interview time to push more of your strengths and promote your abilities while staying in line with the interests of your audience.
Make your products easy to find. Perhaps add them in the right sidebar.
The last way to make money using the podcast method of business is to use the time for you as well as affiliates. For example, provide the usual quality content that sparks the interests of your viewers and then toss in some self-promoting features and features of affiliates.
The only downside here is that you must get behind an affiliate that will not let you down or let the people who trusted you to tell them the right product down. Do not let a greedy affiliate tarnish your reputation.
Keep all of the following when trying to integrate these affiliate products:
– Do not compromise the perception of you and the overall environment by adding a huge banner.
-Try to get on board with an affiliate ASAP so your audience can expect the promoting. By doing this, you condition them to it and allow long-term followers a type of understanding of what is going to happen before it happens.
– Do your best to get the creator of the product or products you are pushing. This rare occurrence allows your audience to feel comfortable with the product or products.
– Further, incentivize viewers/subscribers by letting guests push one or more of their products or future products. Then try to become ‘the pusher’ (an affiliate) of those products.
– Make the affiliate link very easy to say and type.
For example, NameOfYourWebsite.com/TheProduct. This simple task can increase sales significantly.
The only question now is “how do you promote products without being too overbearing?”
Craft your own authentic spiel that pushes the product you want to push. Even if the thing comes off as a bit odd, the audience will feel the authenticity and associate the opinion of you with the product. If they trust you, they will trust you in more than one area.
Keep in mind that you NEVER want to play or do the pushing of the product during the interview. It frustrates viewers, messes up the vibe of the interview, and might even frustrate the person you are interviewing.
Lastly, use the word “free” a lot. For example, free trials, free webinars, etc… At the same time do not get so lost in the “free” offerings that people forget what they are buying or being sold.
Show notes are extremely helpful because they can also help attract people just as much as the word “free.” Note the most important or interesting aspect of the interview and release them so people can know what to expect.
To get more information about how to successfully run your own online interview website, as well as to hear some great interviews on success, check out Dave’s website at: http://TheRiseToTheTop.com
