This is not a post to brag (as there are people who make LOTS more money than I do podcasting) but to answer a question I get frequently. How much money can I make as a podcaster? To this I say, the more you put in, the more you get out. You do need the following:
1. A profitable niche.
I've done a podcast for musicians for 8 years. Have you ever heard the phrase “Starving artist?” apparently there is a reason for that. We know that Americans spend LOTS of money on weight loss industry items. Consequently, one of my most profitable podcasts is my Logical Weight Loss podcast.
2. You need to know your audience. You do this via email, voice mail, comments, meetups, etc.
3. You do need an audience. My smallest audience is my Weekly Web Tools (about 200 downloads) but the people who listen LOVE it.
My two least profitable podcasts are Feeding my Faith, and the Marketing Musician podcast. I would also note that these are the two podcasts with the least reliable publishing schedule. Those podcasts are “Do as I say – not as I do.” With only 24 hours in the day, I fail to meet my projected weekly schedule. I plan on doing Marketing Musician twice a month. Likewise the “Podcast review show” is done on a “as needed basis” as the reviews are ordered. I should pick some podcasts to review to keep the podcast more consistent.
With this in mind, I'm going to peel back my curtain and show you what I made in July 2012
Number of Downloads Per Show in July
School of Podcasting 24,929
Logical Weight Loss: 9,855
Marketing Musician: 1578
Jillian Michaels Podcast: 1089
Weekly Web Tools: 796
Building a Better Dave 602
More Podcast Money 486
Feeding My Faith 159
Power of Podcasting 459
Total downloads 39,918
Affiliate Marketing
Amazon: $86.91
davidjackson.org: $8.48
Jillian Michaels Podcast $1.91
Logical Weight Loss $25.32
More Podcast Money $1.64
School of Podcasting $47.94
Support This Show $1.62
Host Gator (School of Podcasting): $500
Jillian Michaels Website (linkshare): $35
Weekly Web Tools (clickbank.com): $33.54
Logical Weight Loss (24 hour fitness) $5
Audible (Jillian Michaels) $333
Total Affiliate Income $988.45
Donations
Tip 5: $4.50
Logical Weight Loss $25
Total Donations $29.5
Sales of Products
Podcast Review Show $19.99
Consulting: $259
Membership Sites: $314.77
Audio Editing: $81
Book Royalties $20.24
Web Hosting $4
Total Product Sales $683.01
Total Income: $1,730.46
davidjackson.org: $8.48
Marketingmusician.com $8.50
Logical Weight Loss $50.32
School of Podcasting $654.77
More Podcast Money $21.88
Weekly Web Tools: $34.54
Jillian Michaels $369.91
Support This show $1.62
Feeding My Faith $0
Building a Better Dave $0
Expenses
Blubrry Hosting $12
Libsyn Media Hosting $45
Web Hosting: $15
Paypal $35.73
Total Expenses $107.73
Net Income $1622.73
Mentioned on the Show
If you'd like to make more money with your podcast check out my book More Podcast Money at Amazon.com
Use Audible as a “sponsor” of your show sign up here
Listen to my audible tips here
Emember Membership script
Wishlist Membership Plugin
Digital Access Pass is the plugin I use at the School of Podcasting
Hi,
I am thinking about starting up my own podcast and just wanted to know that is your net income to date and if so how long of a period is that over OR is that a monthly net income?
Thanks,
Chamatkar
That is my income from working three evenings a week. You can see my other income report under the “about” seciton
I see you made the most from Julian Michaels and Audible. $333 from her downloads on audible. That is a decent amount. Do you promote her on every show? How often?
On your interview with John Dumas he said he gets8k downloads per show and makes $600 per show. How come you don’t tap into that income? (you have 3x as many downloads on your top show) . By my numbers that’s $2,400 per show.
Sol,
John also does 7X as many episodes as I do. 🙂
Its not just Audible. It’s amazon, and other shows. I do promote that on every show of Jillian though as well as her website (which has an affiliate program). I sell a lot of podcast equipment through Amazon.
Dave, you come across as a sincere, honest man who really enjoys doing what you have chosen to do. A trifle intimidating, but as much as I enjoy the technology, and the social interaction, I want to make some money out of podcasting – in fact I NEED to. I am a Senior, involved in Senior activities, and want to start a podcast for Seniors. I have all the equipment and am familiar with how to create podcasts, but need more information on marketing.
Stan
I just posted a comment and when I switched off my computer and switched it on again, it had disappeared! What I said was that I think that Dave produced a very sincere and honest appraisal of the reality of making money out of podcasting. I am a Senior, involved in various Seniors activities and want to start a podcast on relevant topics, but senior organizations never have money, so I think I’m in for an uphill battle. Any advice on this would be appreciated. I am not a stranger to the techniques of podcasting and you can see an example I did for my son, by going to the ITunes store and doing a search for ASSET MANAGEMENT, when you should see THE GRASSHOPPER’S LESSON ON ASSET MANAGEMENT with the name David Albrice as Provider. For some weird reason it seems to come up and then disappear again – I don’t know why – but its definitely posted on ITunes.
Stan
Stan, I’m surprised more seniors are not creating more podcasts. Experience is hard to come by, and of course that brings insight.
Dave