Episode 67
10 Reasons Why Investing in Podcasters Pays Off
Explore the dynamic world of podcasting with us! As a seasoned podcast producer, I've witnessed the podcasting landscape evolve over the past eight years. One significant shift is the quest to monetize podcasts, especially for those outside established podcast networks.
Discover the grassroots approach to podcast support, where you invest in your favourite content creators. Join me as I explore 10 compelling reasons to back your favourite shows!
1. Investing in Quality Content: Fuel the creation of top-notch content that you adore. Your financial support empowers podcast creators to deliver exceptional episodes.
2. Elevating Content Quality: Many podcasters operate solo, handling everything from recording to editing. Your contributions elevate content quality, ensuring a better experience for all.
3. Exclusive Content: Enjoy exclusive perks like bonus episodes and Q&A sessions by subscribing to podcasts you love.
4. Ad-Free Experience: Bid farewell to intrusive ads and savor uninterrupted listening by subscribing.
5. Community Benefits Connect with like-minded enthusiasts through private forums and Discord channels exclusive to subscribers.
6. Ensuring Sustainability: Your support guarantees that podcast creators can continue producing quality shows, compensating their teams, and maintaining high standards.
7. Exclusive Merchandise or Discounts: Subscribers often enjoy special merchandise or ticket discounts, adding extra value to your support.
8. Supporting Independent Media: Champion independent creators who offer a fresh perspective in a media landscape dominated by corporate big wigs..
9. Prioritizing Your Values: Contribute to causes that align with your mission and values by subscribing to purpose-driven podcasts.
10. The Feeling of Contribution: Send a powerful message to creators that you're not just a listener but an active supporter. Your contribution motivates and fuels their dedication.
Investing in your favourite podcasters is a win-win, fostering a thriving podcasting community. Gain access to exclusive perks and strengthen your connection with beloved shows.
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Transcript
Do you currently pay any of the podcast
Speaker:creators that you love to listen to?
Speaker:Do you subscribe to their shows
Speaker:or do you just follow their shows?
Speaker:And what's the difference?
Speaker:Today, I'm going to go through
Speaker:10 REASONS WHY
Speaker:YOU SHOULD PAY FOR YOUR PODCAST LISTENING
Speaker:EXPERIENCE
Speaker:So the podcasting industry has
Speaker:been a really interesting one
Speaker:As far as creators feeling weird
Speaker:about asking their audience to
Speaker:actually help support the show.
Speaker:For a very long time it was just
Speaker:expected that you would be providing
Speaker:this information for free ad nauseum
Speaker:to no end and continue to give this
Speaker:free information Because it was doing
Speaker:some sort of other purpose for you.
Speaker:So it was a really great lead gen, a
Speaker:funnel into something else, growing
Speaker:your brand, your know, like, and
Speaker:trust, all that sort of thing.
Speaker:Which is still true, absolutely.
Speaker:But, I think we need to have a
Speaker:conversation about why it's a good
Speaker:idea to support your podcast creators,
Speaker:the shows that you know and love.
Speaker:And And if you're a podcast creator
Speaker:yourself, you're definitely going to
Speaker:get some tips in here around how you
Speaker:can look at crowdsourcing your podcast
Speaker:and actually ask your audience in a non
Speaker:sleazy way to help support your show.
Speaker:OKAY so straight off the bat, number
Speaker:one, the number one reason why I think
Speaker:that it's a great idea to support your
Speaker:podcasters is because you're supporting
Speaker:them to create the content that you love.
Speaker:your favorite podcasts are
Speaker:generally produced by people who
Speaker:put a lot of time and effort into
Speaker:creating this show for you.
Speaker:And yes, it's something that they
Speaker:inherently love to do, otherwise
Speaker:they wouldn't keep doing it.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:But you're supporting them to
Speaker:continue to create that content.
Speaker:you're becoming an investor in their
Speaker:show, meaning it's a way for you to show
Speaker:that you really want them to continue.
Speaker:And a lot of the time, As a
Speaker:podcaster, you don't get a lot
Speaker:of feedback from your audience.
Speaker:You know people are listening, you
Speaker:can see the downloads, you might
Speaker:get the occasional DM or comment
Speaker:on YouTube, things like that, but
Speaker:you don't get a lot of feedback.
Speaker:But if you are getting a small amount of
Speaker:money from your listeners, then that is a
Speaker:fantastic sense of achievement a way for
Speaker:you as the listener to support WITH NOT
Speaker:A LOT OF DOLLARS the next reason why
Speaker:it's a great idea Is it can lead to an
Speaker:improvement in the quality of the content
Speaker:that the creator is able to provide.
Speaker:when you have a creator that's
Speaker:completely bootstrapping it,
Speaker:they're doing it all themselves.
Speaker:Maybe they've got a little in house team.
Speaker:They have limited resources, which means
Speaker:that they may not be able to get all
Speaker:the equipment that they want to get.
Speaker:Or they may not be
Speaker:able to hire an editor.
Speaker:They may not be able to have a podcast
Speaker:production team like us behind them
Speaker:because it's expensive, you know.
Speaker:and so if you are seeing the value in
Speaker:a show and you really want to support
Speaker:them to grow and up level what they
Speaker:are able to provide, then giving them
Speaker:a little bit of money is definitely
Speaker:going to help them achieve that.
Speaker:NO.
Speaker:3
Speaker:EXCLUSIVE
Speaker:CONTENT
Speaker:so, exclusive content is a great one
Speaker:because you, as the podcaster, can decide
Speaker:what you want to provide to your members.
Speaker:It's kind of like how Patreon works,
Speaker:where you can go, hey, if you subscribe
Speaker:to the show or if you subscribe to
Speaker:my Patreon, you're going to get X
Speaker:AMOUNT
Speaker:OF extra benefits depending on the
Speaker:tier of payment that you are giving.
Speaker:So in the podcasting space, what
Speaker:that can look like is that you
Speaker:could receive EXTRA EPISODES or
Speaker:releases before everyone else.
Speaker:This works especially well for like
Speaker:true crime podcasts and things that Uh,
Speaker:release centric is in your, what you're
Speaker:just waiting for the next episode.
Speaker:You're wanting to know what happens next.
Speaker:And if you have subscribers, then
Speaker:you can release that stuff to
Speaker:them before the general public,
Speaker:and it creates that extra hype.
Speaker:So exclusive content
Speaker:is a really good idea.
Speaker:If you've got a high quality guest
Speaker:on, could provide extra content that
Speaker:is only for your subscribers, where a
Speaker:subscriber is able to ask a question
Speaker:and get that question answered by the
Speaker:person that you're interviewing or by
Speaker:the host of the show, where you normally
Speaker:wouldn't get, you know, so there's heaps
Speaker:of different ways that you can actually
Speaker:get exclusive content as a subscriber.
Speaker:And it's something to think about
Speaker:if you are a podcaster looking to
Speaker:add subscriptions to your show.
Speaker:What could you provide people
Speaker:that would really engage them?
Speaker:NO.
Speaker:4
Speaker:AD FREE EXPERIENCE
Speaker:so for the subscribers of your
Speaker:show, they can get access to your
Speaker:podcast episodes without ads.
Speaker:If you currently run ads in your
Speaker:show because you have sponsorships,
Speaker:which is all the power to you,
Speaker:like that's important for the
Speaker:sustainability of your show.
Speaker:You can say to your audience, if you
Speaker:subscribe to this show, you won't have
Speaker:the ads because that's the way to make
Speaker:money either way for you as a creator.
Speaker:And it still benefits you
Speaker:and the listener either
Speaker:way they want to play it.
Speaker:NO.
Speaker:5 COMMUNITY BENEFITS
Speaker:So some
Speaker:podcasts offer a sense of
Speaker:community to their paying members.
Speaker:Maybe there's a private Discord
Speaker:channel or a Mighty Networks or
Speaker:a private community on YouTube.
Speaker:Things like that, that if you're a
Speaker:subscriber, you get access to, and
Speaker:it gets you that layer above, you
Speaker:know, that tier above the general
Speaker:listener and gets you closer to that
Speaker:creator that you are really loving.
Speaker:NO.
Speaker:6
Speaker:ENSURING SUSTAINABILITY
Speaker:if you love a creator, if you love the
Speaker:content that they're putting out, if you
Speaker:want to see them achieve more things,
Speaker:bigger things, and you want them to
Speaker:keep releasing, then you as an investor
Speaker:in the show are actually helping to
Speaker:ensure the sustainability of the show.
Speaker:If the podcast creator has some money
Speaker:coming in, it means that they'll be
Speaker:able to continue running their show,
Speaker:to continue paying their podcast
Speaker:production companies or their editors
Speaker:or their in house team to podcast
Speaker:NO.
Speaker:7
Speaker:EXCLUSIVE MERCHANDISE
Speaker:OR DISCOUNTS
Speaker:so this is a really fun one
Speaker:in the crowdsourcing world,
Speaker:especially for podcasting.
Speaker:You might have, as a
Speaker:creator, some special merch.
Speaker:one of our creators, The Wholesome
Speaker:Show, they've got like a trucker
Speaker:hat that they have as their merch.
Speaker:And that could be something that's...
Speaker:Only for subscribers or that there's
Speaker:special discounts for the subscribers.
Speaker:So they get 20% off the merch that you
Speaker:have, or if you're running live events
Speaker:as a creator, then the subscribers
Speaker:get a special discount code or
Speaker:there's meetups, things like that.
Speaker:So that actual kick back as a
Speaker:person who subscribes to the
Speaker:show can be really valuable.
Speaker:NO.
Speaker:8
Speaker:SUPPORTING
Speaker:INDEPENDENT
Speaker:MEDIA
Speaker:this is a huge one.
Speaker:We have to remember that there are
Speaker:millions of podcasts at this point, and
Speaker:only a select few of them are actually
Speaker:backed by large media companies,
Speaker:large networks that have a slate
Speaker:of shows that they pump money into.
Speaker:Using subscription models and using lots
Speaker:of ads and all those sorts of aspects.
Speaker:There are so many podcasts out there that
Speaker:are just purely independent creators.
Speaker:Falling in love with the art
Speaker:of creating a show and putting
Speaker:it out there to the world.
Speaker:And from you subscribing to
Speaker:a show, you're supporting
Speaker:that independent creator.
Speaker:And that really feels valuable to
Speaker:me, feeling like you're supporting an
Speaker:independent creator, someone that isn't
Speaker:tied to anything, that can do what
Speaker:they want, and you're supporting them
Speaker:in doing that, creating that craft.
Speaker:That's the good stuff.
Speaker:NO.
Speaker:9.
Speaker:PRIORITISING YOUR VALUES
Speaker:put your money where your mouth is.
Speaker:If you love a show and it supports
Speaker:your mission, it supports your values.
Speaker:Maybe it's a show on sustainability
Speaker:and helping the planet.
Speaker:Maybe it's a show on health and wellness,
Speaker:business transformations, things that
Speaker:you feel really passionate about.
Speaker:If you put some money towards
Speaker:creative, that's helping bring
Speaker:awareness to that thing that you
Speaker:also love That's donating your money
Speaker:to something that is supporting a
Speaker:cause that you really believe in.
Speaker:NO.
Speaker:10
Speaker:THE FEELING OF CONTRIBUTION
Speaker:I had a webinar that I attended with
Speaker:Apple podcast subscriptions just
Speaker:recently, and they were speaking
Speaker:about how people that subscribe to
Speaker:a show are actually proven to listen
Speaker:to the show two times more per month
Speaker:than those that don't subscribe.
Speaker:And that further proves that
Speaker:once you're actually paying for a
Speaker:show, you're more invested in it.
Speaker:You feel like you want
Speaker:to contribute to it.
Speaker:You feel like you want it to succeed.
Speaker:And that's a really good way to
Speaker:let your podcast creator know that
Speaker:you're enjoying the content, that
Speaker:you love what they're doing, and that
Speaker:you want them to continue doing it.
Speaker:That's my wrap up today on
Speaker:why I think it's a great idea
Speaker:to pay for your podcasts.
Speaker:This helps our podcast creators not
Speaker:have to rely on ad spend so much,
Speaker:especially when the ads aren't aligned
Speaker:with the greater mission of the show.
Speaker:We want to keep things
Speaker:independent as much as possible.
Speaker:We want to keep things free
Speaker:speech as much as possible.
Speaker:And by feeling like you're contributing
Speaker:to a show, you're giving a higher
Speaker:sense of value to the creator
Speaker:and that is never a bad thing.
Speaker:If you got value from this
Speaker:episode, please hit the like and
Speaker:subscribe button over on YouTube.
Speaker:Put any comments in the YouTube comments.
Speaker:I always love those.
Speaker:And if you're listening on
Speaker:Apple podcasts I would love for
Speaker:you to follow the show there.
Speaker:Any links you need are in the description
Speaker:below my name is Brianna from Bambi
Speaker:media and thanks for joining me today.
