How to make your podcast profitable

Do you have a podcast for your business? Is it a profitable one? If not, how can you make your podcast is profitable? Today’s episode discusses how to grow your business with a profitable podcast. Our subject matter expert today is Harry Morton. As a CEO & Founder of Lower Street, he helps agencies, startups, and enterprises launch next-level podcasts that actually make money and build their brands.

His journey in podcasting: With a music technology and audio academic background, Harry started in post-production before transitioning into sales and marketing. His desire to always own a business inspired him to establish a podcasting agency in 2006 with the goal of helping companies tell their stories through audio. He does not have a podcast because they have concentrated on developing podcasts for clients.

Benefits of a business starting a podcast: Harry says podcasting is for the long haul, not quick sales. This means the business often takes a long time to gain traction and grow meaningful relationships with the target audience for the desired ROI. He disqualifies podcasting as a channel of instant lead generation but lauds it as perfect for networking and account-based marketing. The feedback from the ideal customer profile is often valuable for the growth of the business. In addition, it allows the podcaster to gain knowledge from subject matter experts who come on as guests. These guests also become part of the business ecosystem because they get to learn about your product or service offering.

What is a profitable podcast: Our guest expert explains that how to measure the success of your show in podcasting varies from one individual to another, depending on their goals. While one podcaster may be after increasing the lifetime value of their customers, another may be simply seeking to develop strong networks with their ICP. He says that one should not launch a podcast to monetize it because the space is increasingly becoming competitive as podcasting gains traction. Instead, a non-sponsored podcast passes for a profitable podcast because it is built on authentic relationships and networks of the target audience.

How does a new podcast decide its starting point? Harry speaks to the highly competitive environment of podcasting, which translates that an individual podcast has to fight with many podcasts for the listener’s ear. As such, a new podcast should focus on the target audience in terms of what they need, providing a competitive advantage.

What is the ideal podcast length: Our guest expert says, “A podcast should be as long as it needs to be and not a minute longer.” The goal of podcasting is to provide value for the ICP delivered concisely and entertainingly. In this regard, the length of a podcast depends on the target audience’s needs, although shorter is better.

Role of consistency in podcasting: Harry notes consistency as one of the main challenges in podcasting; this is especially true because the content creator must produce differentiated high-quality content regularly by hosting true subject matter experts. (There is always plenty of choice for high-quality podcasts for the listener). Harry emphasizes quality over quantity, meaning that the podcast has to value the audience’s time by offering them high-quality content.

How to increase the exposure of a podcast episode: Harry advises the need to improve your podcast relative to the competition consistently. As such, a podcaster should seek to make their podcast easily discoverable through video on such platforms as YouTube and Spotify. It helps to offer the audience short samples of the podcast episode so that they are interested In listening to the full version. Also, s podcaster benefits from affiliating with other podcasts due to resultant referrals and recommendations.                                                                                

 Time codes

• (0:07) Introduction of today’s topic and guest expert
• (01:23) His journey in podcasting
• (04:03) Benefits of a business starting a podcast
• (09:00) What is a profitable podcast
• (12:23) How does a new podcast set its theme
• (14:15) What is the ideal length of a podcast
• (16:19) Role of consistency in podcasting
• (21:25) How to increase the exposure of a podcast episode
• (24:54) Harry’s contact information
• (25:25) Harry’s choice of brand ambassador