Those who find creating podcasts a hobby, those whose podcasts are not interesting, and those who have few listeners will complain about the financial reward of podcasts. But are Podcasts Profitable? We will find out in the following paragraphs. 

Google Trends as of 2022 revealed that Podcast demands continue to rise. Music Oomph states that about 104 million people in the United States listen to podcasts every month (32% of the population.) Narrowing the figures down to weekly listeners, the study showed that about 71.9 million people listen to podcast sessions weekly (22% of the US population.) 

Are Podcasts Profitable? – Looking at How much Podcasters Earn 

With Podcasts, you can make as low as $0 if you are not doing the right thing. To drive this assertion, Castos says that many podcast producers spend so much to rent equipment and pay hosting fees before they can even dream of earning any money. And that if your sole aim of producing a podcast is to make money and keep body and soul together, you might as well not start at all and seek a job in another industry.  

This is not intended to put you off. Hold on! But it just goes to inform you that you will need another source of income if you are a newcomer Podcast producer. 

While answering the question ‘Are Podcasts Profitable?’ is quite straightforward, data on how much podcasters earn are often scarce. To get how much podcasters earn, we have to work with some numbers and assumptions. Here are a few of the assumptions;

• Let us say 2% of your audience has support on Patreon, and they each donate $5 a month to your show, which is the standard donation. 
• You have an affiliate link that gives you a $15 commission if 1% of your audience purchases any product using your link. 
• You have a course that costs $99 per month, and 0.05% of your audience purchases the online course. 
• You publish 4 podcasts in a month, 1 per week. 

1. 1000 downloads per month

At this point, no sponsor is interested in your show. Businesses say podcasts with 1000 viewers do not command any advert placement from large organizations, as they do not work with small podcasts. However, you must make money. The expected projection of profit will thus be:  

• You make $100 from Patreon Support 
• Affiliate sales give you $150 
• You get $495 in the sale of online course 

Total = $745 per month. 

2. 5000 per episode download per month

At this stage, you are very open to landing sponsorships. Businesses say you are able to charge $18 for advertising (cost per 1,000 listeners) for adverts of 30 seconds, while for 60-second ads, the rate goes up to $25. Your earnings will thus be: 

• You will make $1,200 per month on advert based on $25 CPM 
• $500 will come from Patreon support 
• Affiliate sales will generate $750 per month 
• Purchase of online course $2,475 

Total = $4,925 per month. 

Should you hit gold of 10,000 downloads at $50 CPM on advertising, we will leave you to do the calculations based on the blueprint we have used above. 

At this stage, we would like to sound a caveat that these numbers are not set in stone as they are merely based on the assumptions listed above. You might not sell online courses at the onset, and you could get organizations willing to pay you higher than the industry standard for ads if your audience overlaps with their target audience. Thus, it appears podcasts are profitable. 

If you are just starting out with Podcasts and want to make money, here are the ways stated by Forbes that you can make money. 

How to Make Money with a Podcast 

To make money with a podcast, you have to leverage several methods to avoid putting yourself at a financial disadvantage. Here is how to make money with a podcast.

1. Promote your product or service: Do you have a product you sell already or service? You can educate your target audience by explaining it to them. This gives them a better understanding of such a service or product and how it can benefit them. You have to be very convincing to drive home your point. 
2. Content and Membership: Podcasts are sometimes free to listen to or download. You can choose to offer some episodes for free to your listeners and charge to access the download of other episodes or offer membership for a fee per month. 
3. Coaching and Consulting: If you have expertise in an area of study, you can coach an audience interested in learning more about the subject matter or offer consulting services for those who would like to know more about a topic for a fee. 
4. Affiliate Marketing: You can market products to your audience and inform them that you stand to gain commission if they purchase a product using your affiliate link. 
5. Sponsored Ads: Sponsored ads are another avenue to make money with a podcast. Companies may choose to advertise with you if you have a large listenership and your audience is what they feel will be sufficient to advertise their product or service to. 
6. Public Speaking: Riverside stated that Podcast authors who have established themselves in the industry can start charging as public speakers if approached to be guest speakers on shows.  

Conclusion

Let us ask the question again, are podcasts profitable? Based on a study revealed by Oberlo data, the revenue generated from podcasts is forecasted to rise to as high as $2.74 billion by 2025. Hence, we strongly recommend that you start a podcast to make money.

If you are sourcing sponsorship opportunities and need to promote your podcast, People Connect offers both and you can register with People Connect for free to enjoy this goldmine.