NFTs or non-fungible tokens have come to podcasting. Like most things cryptocurrency, I’ve but a tenuous grasp. So I’ll leave it to others to give you a primer and simply say it’s a new way for creators to get paid. Including creators or digital content. 

Brian McCullough, host of Techmeme Ride Home has made an NFT out of his episode, which doesn’t surprise me in the least.

But monetization in podcasting is not—and never has been—a one-size-fits-all prospect. Here are some of the ways podcasters, even podcasters with modest audiences, make money with their podcast:

• Advertising - You won’t make a lot of money selling ads unless you have tens or hundreds of thousands of listeners. But that doesn’t mean you can’t sell ads on your podcast and make some money
• Listener-support services like Patreon and Buy Me A Coffee  are used by plenty of shows with small audiences 
• Premium podcast feed providers like Glow, Supercast, and others make it dead-simple to create and sell access to ad-free or extended content. 
• Substack is a great newsletter service that can also allow for paid memberships.
• You can sell ads or sponsorships on your existing, for-free newsletter or mailing list you’ve probably been neglecting. 
• Affiliate marketing has been a part of podcasting since the beginning. 
• Conference organizers will be on the hunt for speakers and presenters. And some of them pay good money to get an expert like you on their stage.
• Your podcast might show what a valuable consultant you may be.
• You’d be surprised at the number of podcasters who will happily pay you to take pesky tasks off their plate so they can stay focused on the parts of podcasting they love.
• And then there’s merchandising! 

So yes, there are ways to make (at least some) real money in podcasting without selling your soul, even if you don’t have hundreds of thousands of listeners. (Though that last part makes it much, much easier.) It just means you have to be creative in your approach.

And you can call me crazy, but I think creativity is perhaps our most valuable skill as podcasters.

Let’s keep the conversation going. Tomorrow, February 5th at 10:00a Los Angeles / 1:00p New York City / 6:00p London, I’m hosting a voice-only conversation about ways real podcasters make real money, and I’d love for you to be part. 

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A written-to-be-read article and a full transcript of the audio of this episode can be found at https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/ways-to-make-real-money-in-podcasting-without-selling-your-soul