This question is certainly on many podcasters minds. Whenever this question is posed, I follow up with another question: “Are we talking about entertainment or information (infotainment)?” I have a different answer for each.
Of course, in entertainment, someone like Ricky Gervais is going to have an easier time of building an audience willing to pay for what he has to offer.
When it comes to information, I’m a firm believer that we are all an expert on something. People are willing to pay for good information, especially if they are rabid about the topic. Imagine a podcast that tells a golfer how to shave strokes off their game or that tells a FOREX trader how to make higher returns on their trades. In this kind of focused niche, it’s easier to find a faithful following who will part with their cash to hear what you have to say.
I have a few different podcasts. One is about culture/art/history/music in New York City. This one is largely entertainment and I would have a harder time getting people to pay for it.
Another of my podcasts gives solid how to information on making passive income in internet business. We don’t currently charge for it, but we could more readily get people to pay for this information OR monetize the content in other ways.
I feel that much of the discussion you see on the internet concerning podcast monetization assumes an entertainment stance and hence falls back more on the ad models of traditional radio.
When it comes to subscription model podcasts, you’ll have a far easier time charging for an information-based show than an entertainment show (unless your Ricky Gervais and we’ll see soon how that works out for him).
March 11, 2006 by Jason
Categories: Monetizing Your Content